Frank Thomas close to retirement…
Written by Joe Veno on June 25, 2009 – 6:08 PM -…Which would make him five years away from Cooperstown. Or it better anyway, as the guy is a clear-cut first ballot Hall of Famer.
With my greater understanding, has come my appreciation of a player such as Craig Biggio. And now I understand why Bill James ranked him ahead of Frank Thomas, as far as the greatest players of the 90’s are concerned.
The list, which I have referred to before, looks like this:
1) Barry Bonds
2) Craig Biggio
3) Ken Griffey Jr.
4) Frank Thomas
Number one cannot be disputed unless PED’s are brought up.
Number two can be disputed. And I personally have him fourth on my non-existent list. Although do appreciate him much more so–a middle infielder with a good set of offensive skills.
Three and four move up a slot, but stay in the same order (Griffey then Thomas).
But anyway, Frank Thomas was as great a hitter as most will ever see. His WARP is better than both Griffey’s and Biggio’s, at 95 wins above a replacement player. And that shows how great he really was, as the Big Hurt didn’t offer, or contribute really anything of value on the defensive side of the ball.
Thomas, if his career is in fact finished, will have an OPS+ of 156. Over 19 seasons, well, that is just incredible. A line of .301/.419/.555 is just as astonishing. And he hit well every.single.year of his career with the exception of a 20 game, injury riddled season in 2001. And in a 71 game season in 2008, in which he was released by the Blue Jays, at the age of 40.
Two MVP’s to his name, and Thomas was well-deserving of both. Very well deserving.
That OPS+ of 156 falls in at 19th all time, tied with Manny Ramirez, Dick Allen, and Willie Mays. Not bad company, not at all.
Thomas was great at helping his team reach the bullpen as quickly as possible too. Thomas reached base a ton, as mentioned, and took well over four pitches per plate appearance. The guy was a patient beast. He wouldn’t beat himself often by putting himself into pitchers counts. And when he did swing, he mashed.
Simply put, a great, great hitter. And there is no reason that any voter should not vote for him during the first year of eligibility.
And yes, Bill James, I do believe that Thomas was better than Biggio 
Posted in Chicago White Sox, Historical | 1 Comment »
June 26th, 2009 at 10:39 AM
I love watching guys play in the field- in fact the defensive plays are my favorite thing to watch in a game–as much as i love hitting. i’m not a pitcher’s duel kind of guy, unless it involves some great defense ( and i dont mean fielding weak grounders )
that being said watching a truly great hitter is something special. especially the ones that really get under a pitcher’s skin. bond, papi, manny etc. and you would have to put the big hurt in that category. i’m glad you wrote this little article on him. he’s one of those greats that fly too much under the radar, when in fact he really should me more in the conversation as one of the modern great players. that + the general feeling that he has been clean his whole career.