Frank Thomas Appreciation Thread

I might be jumping the gun a bit as the big dude might yet garner an NR-invite from some club, but I think Frank Thomas’ career is over. It’s a shame that a player as great as Frank won’t get the chance to end things on his own terms, but that’s just the way the economics of the league work these days. Teams just aren’t going to throw money at you because you used to be good. Frank is hardly alone in this respect, as you’ve got a whole host of aging sluggers who might just find themselves forced into involuntary retirement. There’s:

Jim Edmonds, Ken Griffey Jr., and to a lesser extent: Mosies Alou, Garret Anderson and Cliff Floyd.

Some of these guys will sign, some of them are probably too broken down to sign, and others probably won’t even get the chance. But that’s beside the point. This thread is about Frank, not those other guys.

I don’t think the A’s ever seriously considered bringing back Thomas for 2009, and I really can’t blame them. I mean, there’s the injuries, and then the fact that Beane recently signed a left handed, slightly less defensively inept, and slightly younger version of Thomas. However, if you consider how left-handed heavy the A’s lineup projects to be next season, it sure would have been sweet to keep Frank around as a right-handed pinch hitting specialist. Unfortunately, unless the A’s can get some roster exemption where Rajai Davis and Thomas only count as one player I just can’t imagine how they could ever fit him onto the roster.

So Frank is probably done, but let’s not forget just how historically good the Big Hurt was. Between 1991 (his first full season in the big leagues) and 1997 he missed the 1.000 OPS plateau just once. The lone year was 1992 when he slashed .323/.439/.536. Not bad. He also smashed 521 home runs. Same as some dude named Willie and another guy named Ted. Frank’s a first ballot Hall of Famer, there’s no doubt about it.

I remember watching him in the on-deck circle during spring training in 2006. I could have sworn the guy was 8 feet tall. As I remember, it was his first at-bat as an Athletic, and of course, he hit a home run. So what’s your favorite memory of the Big Hurt? Memories from his time as an Athletic are preferred, but feel free to open it up.