The acrimonious parting after the 2005 championship season, the exchange of insults with general manager Kenny Williams (“He’s an idiot”), Williams’ testy admonition to “stay out of White Sox business”— all was forgiven Sunday as the White Sox paid tribute to prodigal slugger Frank Thomas, saluting the most prolific hitter in franchise history.
Before one of the largest crowds—39,433—and on one of the warmest days of the season—92 degrees—at U.S. Cellular Field, the Sox retired Thomas’ No. 35 and added his smiling image to the gallery spanning the wall in left and center field. Thomas, the 10th player the Sox have honored with a retired number, took his place between Billy Pierce (No. 19) and Carlton Fisk (No. 72), who assisted with the unveiling.
Bobby Howard, Thomas’ baseball coach at Columbus, Ga., High School, and former Sox manager Terry Bevington were among those on hand for the ceremony, along with more than a dozen of Thomas’ ex-teammates. “There wouldn’t have been a ‘Big Hurt’ without you guys,” Thomas told them.
After a video tribute recapping his career, Thomas decided he was too emotional to read from his prepared remarks, so he went off the cuff and talked for about five minutes. He thanked “the organization that brought me here and believed in my ability.” He remembered his late father, “who really pushed me, really wanted me to be somebody,” and his older brother Mike, “who brought me along and was never too busy to work with me.”
He acknowledged Williams and his front-office colleagues Rick Hahn and Scott Reifert, as well as Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, “for letting me do this in the middle of a pennant race.” Finally, he thanked the city of Chicago and the fans, “who made me what I was. I couldn’t have done it without you.
“I love this city, I love the fans and I love the Chicago White Sox,” Thomas said. His wife, Megan, and children Sterling, Sydney, Sloan and Frankie Jr. then joined him in a first-pitch ceremony.
“I’m a very proud man,” Thomas said, “and this was probably the proudest day of my life.”
The White Sox couldn’t deliver a victory for Thomas, falling 2-1 to the New York Yankees. They remained 4 ½ games behind the Minnesota Twins, who lost to the Mariners by the same score in Seattle.
Thomas played 16 of his 19 seasons with the White Sox before wrapping up his probable Hall of Fame career with the Oakland A’s and the Toronto Blue Jays. “Next stop Cooperstown” was a recurring theme during Sunday’s ceremony; broadcaster Hawk Harrelson, the emcee, made frequent references to the Hall of Fame, as did Guillen, who didn’t always see eye-to-eye with Thomas, suggesting in years past he was a stats-obsessed, “me-first” player.
But again, all was forgiven on Sunday.
“Of course he deserves to be there. I think he should be a first-ballot pick,” Guillen said. “When they talk about the White Sox and what people have done in the past, Frank has to be No. 1., in my opinion. Maybe he wasn’t the best player, but he was the best hitter ever to wear this uniform.”
Thomas, eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2014, will test what appears to be a voters’ bias against designated hitter-types as less than “real” players. Edgar Martinez, who was a standout DH for the Seattle Mariners after a shoulder injury ended his days as a position player, received only 36.2 percent of the votes last year, his first on the ballot. Seventy-five percent is required for induction.
On the other hand, Thomas’ career numbers are superior to those of Martinez. Thomas finished with a .301 average, 1,494 runs, 2,468 hits, 1,028 extra-base hits, 521 homers, 1,704 RBIs, a .419 on-base percentage, a .555 slugging percentage and a .974 OPS—combined on-base plus slugging.
Martinez batted .312 for his career, with 1,219 runs, 2,247 hits, 828 extra-base hits, 309 homers, 1,261 RBIs, a .418 on-base percentage, a .515 slugging percentage and an OPS of .933
Paul Molitor was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2004 even though he was the DH for more than 1,000 games of the 2,683 in which he played. But Molitor was a capable, versatile defender, a regular at three positions, before injuries restricted him to DH duties. And no matter where he played, Molitor put up Hall-worthy numbers: a .306 career average, 3,319 hits, 1,782 runs, 1,307 RBIs and 504 steals.
The back-to-back MVP awards Thomas won in 1993-94 also make a strong case for his induction. Dale Murphy, the National League MVP for the Atlanta Braves in 1982-83, is the only other two-time MVP not enshrined, but Murphy’s numbers fell off precipitously as he entered his 30’s. Thomas, in addition to winning his two MVP awards, finished in the top 10 in MVP voting seven other times. He was second to Jason Giambi in 2000, when he was 32, and fourth behind Justin Morneau, Derek Jeter and David Ortiz in 2006, when he was 38.
Finally, Thomas’ reputation as “clean” player cannot be overlooked. He was an early and outspoken critic of performance-enhancing drug use in baseball and managed to avoid the allegations and the evidence that have ensnared so many of the biggest names of the “steroid era.”
He never ran well, he was a reluctant thrower, and fielding was always something to pass the time between plate appearances. But Frank Thomas could hit like few men who ever stepped into a batter’s box—every year he was healthy, he hit.
He passes the Cooperstown test for this voter.