Thome

Looking at the video of his first HR against the Yanks, he was thin as a rail. Makes one think that just maybe he's one of those 105 that weren't mentioned. Anything's possible.

Zomby,
I was quite a bit thicker at 40 than I was at 20 and the only juice I was on was chocolate shakes

Congratulations to Thome. Now there's a guy you gotta love.

zombywoof- Jeter is a lot thicker now than he was as a rookie also...


Congrats to one of the game's good guys

quote:

Originally posted by zombywoof:
Looking at the video of his first HR against the Yanks, he was thin as a rail. Makes one think that just maybe he's one of those 105 that weren't mentioned. Anything's possible.

I would bet my next paycheck that Thome is clean.

Congrats to Jim Thome, no doubt he's one of the good guys! Yes, he was skinny as a rail when he hit his first HR at Yankee Stadium 20 years ago...but it was in the third deck, a sign of things to come!

Yes.. Thome is one of the good guys and know the story that he's putting all his nieces and nephews thru college. Good stuff. He'll be a first ballot HOF'er. It's just when you see these skinny guys blow up and played thru the roid era, it's the first thing that comes to mind.

While he got bigger than he was at twenty I think he's as we say down here in Texas, just a big ol corn fed boy. His body never turned into a cartoon caracature either like Bonds, Sosa and McGwire. Some guys just seem to have more charactor than others just by the way they live their lives and Jim Thome is one of those guys! Congratulations Jim Thome on 600!

quote:

Originally posted by Three Bagger:
While he got bigger than he was at twenty I think he's as we say down here in Texas, just a big ol corn fed boy. His body never turned into a cartoon caracature either like Bonds, Sosa and McGwire. Some guys just seem to have more charactor than others just by the way they live their lives and Jim Thome is one of those guys! Congratulations Jim Thome on 600!

I was going to make that point about how the steroid guys were chiseled while Thome.......wasn't. Sosa, McGwire and those guys could put spandex on and look like super heroes. Thome puts on spandex and he's embarassed.

I like how he hit the ball and took off running instead of standing there and watching. That's how you handle a homerun with class - not pimpin' it.

Congrats to Thome. It was fun having him in Philly for a few years. He related well to the city and fans here and was a fan favorite immediately. Probably just like everywhere else he played.

He gave a lot of credit for his success to another country boy...Charlie Manuel. He and Thome are still very close and talk quite often according to Manuel.

Two words, Class Act!

Thome is a class act. We are thrilled to have him finishing his career with the Twins. My family has been at Target field for quite a few of his home runs, including the very cool flag pole one last summer.

Last night we especially enjoyed watching his post-game remarks on TV. This quote is from a different interview, but it sums up Jim Thome's style:

He once said "I always had to work to be good, because I never was very good. I mean, I always had to work to get where I wanted to be. It was never easy. It still isn’t. It still isn’t."



Julie

Had a chance to meet him way back when he was plying his trade at AAA Charlotte with a buddy of mine, just before both were called up to Cleveland. As nice a guy as you will ever want to meet and classy as they come. Hearty Congrats to him.

BTW, Charlie Manual was the Mgr of that team and you would have thought I was one of his own when we met. Its no wonder Thome holds him in such high regard to this day. Both as classy as they come in my book.

BTW, I'm sitting here watching Sports Center again. I sure wouldn't classify him as skinny as a rail for his first homer. Surely smaller now but remember, aren't we all?

He still looked quite thick and very strong.

It's really a shame that one's first reaction to this great accomplishment is to accuse the man of being a cheater. Really a shame.

Congrats to Thome. One of the good guys in baseball.

-------------------

One of my favorite players of all time – I was glad to get the opportunity to see him play in a Chicago White Sox uniform and was present the game he hit his 500th HR. This is a man who plays the game the right way. My favorite statistic about Jim is that he is putting all of his 10 nieces and nephews through college.

When I grow up I want to be just like Jim Thome……

Thome has one of the most interesting ways of swinging the bat. He is what some of us would call a back foot hitter, but it seems to have worked for him.

Griffey Jr. and Thome are the two guys that I would vote into the Hall of Fame without question. I have no doubt that they never used steroids. Both of them will be remembered as truly great players.

Anybody else vote to leave the steroids issue out of this one?

None of us know one way or the other.

I probably saw more games of Jim Thome in his early career than anyone here. He was a farm-raised boy who loved to hunt and contrary to some of the assertions here, he was not thin as a rail imho.

Jim Thome was a great player and a great teammate. I saw him hit the farthest homerun in then Jacob's Field (now Progressive Field) history - 511 feet and a monsterous blast. He is also in the top 10 in career walks so he was not just a Dave Kingman-type homerun guy.

Jim Thome lives in our community and what everyone says about him is true.

A good friend of our's recently passed away and the Thome family knew the woman via a mutual friend and they have been wonderful to her son.

They even give away autographed Hershey bars for Halloween.

He is reminiscent of an earlier, simpler Americana where baseball players came from small rural towns and embodied those values as well.

I also read that Thome said his brother is a mountain of a man that makes Jim look small. If true, then size is probably a family trait.

I saw on one blog where a guy was arguing that Thome was not a Hall of Famer because he was one dimensional (yeah, so was Einstein), but this is an idiotic argument. He's had incredibly high on base percentages because of his ability to take walks, much higher than Griffey in fact, and his slugging percentage towers over Reggie Jackson's. He is a definite first ballot Hall of Famer in my book.

.

"I empirically agree!"

.

Thome is a HOF player in every way possible in my book. He is the kind of person you hope your kids look up to in the game and the way he carries himself.

I absolutely loved the way he got out of the box and ran the bags when he hit that homer last night. It was exactly the way I expected him to act. I am going to miss him when he retires. Truly one of the all time greats in the game. In every way possible.

isThome a hall of famer?

600 hr's. I think only 8 players in the history of the game have ever hit 600 hr's. No doubt in my book.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
isThome a hall of famer?

Yes.

Thome began the 2009 season on the Dodgers roster primarily as a late inning pinch hitter. In fact, I don't believe that he saw anytime at First Base? He never complained publicly about lack of AB's. Thome remained with LA for the first 1/3 (17 total at bats, no HR's) of the season before being traded back to the White Sox...where he hit in the DH spot and clubbed 23 dingers to help Chicago. I'd say he's pretty classy. Here's a guy with 500 plus HR's at the time, and all he wanted to do was fit in and help a ball club. And if he wasn't happy, well...it was dealt with behind closed doors and not shared with the media. Yes, he belongs in Cooperstown!

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
isThome a hall of famer?

Putting the good guy in baseball aside, Not in my book he should be a HOFer for a couple of reasons. One, he didn't dominate in his era and there were many better players. Two, he spend a good part of his career DHing. Had he been a position player, he probably his 350 Hrs and rides into the sunset. He's a compiler able to play in his 40s and that extra "muscle" gained over the years still has me thinking how he plays so long.

Until the rest of those 104 names are released, there'll always be questions about the sluggers in this era.

In the end, he'll be a first ballot HOFer
because of the 600.

The HOF is for the elite, the special, the ones that just are better whether you realize it or not. There's something to be said for a guy who shows up and does his job very well everyday. There's a difference between a guy who plays into his 40's and hits 450 HRs and a guy who plays into his 40's and hits 600 HRs. It takes a special player to perform that well at the end of the marathon career. Special players go to the HOF.

Coach. In my mind, players who dominate an era are those who belong in the hall. In my mind, this might exclude 80% or so of those currently in the HOF now. IMO, the HOF is watered down and you really don't have to be that great player to get inducted. Just hang aroungd long enough to compile certain numbers and not dominate. Certainly, Thome's numbers will make him a lock based on the loose qualifications to get in but I think way too many are in the hall who have no business being in there.

I understand where you're coming from and your wanting higher expectations. I just think it's a really amazing feat to be as productive as he's been for such a long period of time. Like Coach May said there's only 7 or 8 guys who have more HR's than him total.

The sad part of the whole steroid era is that there is that question regardless of who it is. I personally don't think he was one of them but we'll never know even if the names are released. Guys from this era are guilty until proven innocent and then there's still that question in some people's eyes.

If I had a vote he would get it but I understand where you're coming from.

Probably the reason he didn't dominate his era is because most of the other power hitters were on steroids! How many of the other power hitters of his era have an over .400 on base percentage? He has a better on base percentage than Tony Gwynn and far higher than Ken Griffey Jr. He was never named in any of the rumors, lists, books etc. He doesn't have the body a big man gets on steroids. He doesn't seem like the type guy who had to be better than everyone else like Bonds or Sosa. He wasn't about to lose his Major League job like McGwire in the early 90's. You know, before this steroid thing even started, there were always some gifted power hitters who hit a lot of HRs. We don't have to suspect every person when the proponderence of evidence says he's innocent. He certainly fits the physical description of many of the power hitters of the 50's and 60's like Stargell, McCovey, Kluzewski, Wally Post, Roy Seivers, Harmon Killebrew, Dick Stuart, and on and on.

What makes players like Ryan Sandberg, Roberto Alomar and Jim Rice more qualified for the HOF than Jim Thome?

I don't even understand the debate here. A man has a 20+ year career, is the model of consistency, is within the top 20 all-time in several statistical categories and is EIGHTH on the all-time home run list...arguably the most coveted list in all of baseball. If that's not pure domination of your craft then I don't know what is.

To shed light on this in a different sense...because he played in the "Steroid Era", as mentioned previously his numbers are largely skewed by the absurdly unnatural statistics put up by his peers. For example, in 2002 he hit .304, 52 HR, 118 RBI and had an OPS in 1.122. And he was 7th in the MVP voting.

If Jim Thome is not a first ballot hall of famer then we've all been watching the wrong game. Before the dominating sluggers started cheating 500 HR was an automatice ticket to Cooperstown. This guy has 600 and no indications that he cheated with steriods.

If Thome played in New York there would have been as much hoopla as Jeter got getting 3000 hits. Which has been done much more often in baseball than 600 HRs. Jeter didn't dominate his position. SS Arod and Nomar had better numbers back in the day than Jeter.

Thome's numbers should make him a first ballot HOFer. I'd be surprised if he didn't get in on the first shot. However, I think the HOF lets anybody in, especially when they get to the veteran's committe because they weren't good enough to get elected the fifteen years they were on the baseball writer's ballot. Can anyone with a straight face say Pee wee Reese is a hall of famer? As for Thoome, there hasn't been any link to him on the juice but sluggers in the roid era will be always questioned. In Jeter's case, it's different, he never bulked up over the years and his numbers were relatively consistent throughout the years and has suffered slowdown from aging and not increasing muscle and power as he gets older. Maybe Thome isn't linked to roids for whatever reason but in my mind, I will always question tyhe sluggers in the roid era. Perhaps that's not the popular thing to do but I suppose we can agree to disagree on this. As to the comparison to Reggie Jackson on slugging percentage, I don't think you can compare because Reggie didn't play in the roids era, so there's no suspicion that Reggies power numbers were aided by roids. Plus Reggie was a dominant player in his era and his world series dominace validifies his induction. The problem with the roid era is it skews all the numbers of all the sluggers that played in this era so we'll really never know what the true numbers would've been.

Don't understand the "not a dominant player in his era" talk. Must have been because the bulk of his prime was spent playing in Cleveland. Furthermore the arguments about accumulating stats with longevity doesn't wash. It would seem that longevity is just as much a requirement as the magic stat numbers. The vast majority of HOFers had 20 year +/- careers. Baseball history is littered with potential HOF caliber players that couldn't sustain a long career - Lynn, Mattingly, Munson, Conigliaro, Richard, etc.

Over a 9 season stretch from 1996-2004 Thome averaged:
BA - .285
HR - 41
RBI - 111
OBP - .416
SLG - .588
OPS - 1.004
He was then injured and missed most of the 2005 season, but returned to have a 3-year stretch from 2006-2008 to average:
BA - .269
HR - 37
RBI - 98
OBP - .396
SLG - .554
OPS - .950
If that is not a dominant player over a 13-year stretch, would someone please explain to me what is and provide stats to prove it.

For comparison, Griffey, Jr., who everyone agrees is a sure-fire first ballot selection had his best years in a 8 season stretch from 1993-2000 averaging:
BA - .294
HR - 44
RBI - 116
OBP - .387
SLG - .606
OPS - .993

Very comparable stats, and Thome's prime was longer. Thome and Griffey, Jr. were different players, but there should be no doubt that both are deserving first-ballot selections. Baseball has a lot of parts to it - throwing, catching, running - but one thing is certain. The better you hit, the further you will have the opprrtunity go in this game, and Jim Thome could flat-out mash.

zombywoof- How do you figure Thome's numbers increased as his career went along?

quote:

Originally posted by J H:
zombywoof- How do you figure Thome's numbers increased as his career went along?

His best power numbers were from 1996-2004. This was around the time sluggers were putting up big numbers in the roid era.

Again, I'm not saying Thome definitely did roids and is an admitted cheater because that isn't the case. However in my mind, I have doubts, but that goes for all the sluggers during the roid era.

Unfortunately, those who did the roids made it bad for anyone else who didn't mess with them.

.

"Unfortunately, those who did the roids made it bad for anyone else who didn't mess with them."

So true zomby. And this sentiment is also true in all other walks of life too. The 'bad apples' cause a lot of misery.



.

quote:

Originally posted by zombywoof:

quote:

Originally posted by J H:
zombywoof- How do you figure Thome's numbers increased as his career went along?

His best power numbers were from 1996-2004. This was around the time sluggers were putting up big numbers in the roid era.

Again, I'm not saying Thome definitely did roids and is an admitted cheater because that isn't the case. However in my mind, I have doubts, but that goes for all the sluggers during the roid era.

Unfortunately, those who did the roids made it bad for anyone else who didn't mess with them.

So do you have doubts about Griffey too? Same prime, same numbers, same era. Or is there no doubt because everybody says he's a great guy and would never have done it? If you feel this way then it has to be all or nothing including Thome AND Griffey doesn't it?

For comparison, Griffey, Jr., who everyone agrees is a sure-fire first ballot selection had his best years in a 8 season stretch from 1993-2000 averaging:
BA - .294
HR - 44
RBI - 116
OBP - .387
SLG - .606
OPS - .993