Frank Thomas: The Big Hurt Hits The Big 5-0-0!

[Sal]

Yesterday afternoon, against the Minnesota Twins, Frank Thomas of the Toronto Blue Jays, after a long wait, finally hit his 500th career major league home run against Twins reliever Carlos Silva. It was his 50th HR overall against the Twins but it wasn't enough as the Jays lost the game.


Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas has always been one of my favourite players and I was thrilled to see him sign with my hometown Blue Jays this spring. For most of his career, Frank Thomas has become one of the most fearsome sluggers in baseball history but also one of the most underrated and underappreciated stars in baseball, first because of the many injuries that have befell him that have prevented him from reaching even higher and more impressive numbers, but also because of the many other power hitters that have become flashier and more exciting to follow, like Griffey, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, A-Rod, and others. To the best of my knowledge, he has never taken steroids or other foreign substances, and you'll never find his name linked to any other controversy or cheap gossip. Thomas has taken his lumps along the way and approached his career quietly and with class. This week, in going for #500, you can see the pressure was getting to him and was affecting his play. A normally patient hitter at the plate (something rare for a power hitter), he was swinging wildly at pitches just to see if he could make contact. When the big hit finally came, it was done in his typical, understated way.

I had been following the chase with great interest hoping to see him do it and celebrate along with him and his many fans. When he hit it, I wasn't home and I didn't know what happened until last night. I was watching a football game and the home run was shown during halftime. I stood up and cheered for a full minute. You could too if you go here:


http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=tor


Congratulations again to a great player and a great man. It was well deserved.