Sunday, December 11, 2005

So long, Hurt

The White Sox are parting ways with Frank Thomas. A combination of injuries and age have led the Sox to look elsewhere. From a management standpoint, I can't disagree with them but as a fan it's very sad to see him go. I found this valentine (h/t Baseball Musings). It involves a bit of rebar and I've never heard this story before.
My favorite Frank Thomas story involved a game in August of 1993. It didn't figure big in the standings. It didn't involve late inning heroics. But it was the best game I've ever been to.
It was at the Metrodome, long before the Sox and Twins were rivals. Thomas batted third in the lineup. After two quick outs he came up and hit a long homerun to left center. That made the score 1-0 and that's how the game turned out. The Twins threatened in the middle innings with numerous runners on base but they just couldn't get them in. The differance had been Big Frank.
We can only hope that he lands somewhere nice. There's even the possibility that he'll land here in Minnesota. If he does, I hope he gets better treatment by White Sox fans than AJ has from Twins fans. And whenever he does decide to hang it up, I'll be marking my calendar for a five year wait for Cooperstown.

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