Friday, February 12, 2010

Bye Thomas! Big Hurt retires


Boy, the Baseball Hall of Fame is going to be really crowded in a few years. Since the start of the new year, several sure-fire hall of famers have announced their retirement. The latest is Frank Thomas, best known as the "Big Hurt."

Thomas was one of the most dangerous sluggers in baseball. The numbers are impressive: .301 batting average, 521 home runs, 2,468 hits and 1,704 ribbies. He won back-to-back American League Most Valuable Player awards and was selected for the All-Star team five times.

Thomas was often a controversial figure, never hesitating to speak his mind, even if that meant criticizing his bosses. He won his only World Series title with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, but had a bitter parting with them before signing with the Oakland Athletics. But that honesty came in handy as Thomas was one of the few players openly advocating for drug testing during the steroid era while other clean colleagues simply looked the other way.
There's no denying his greatness. Hall of Fame, here comes the Big Hurt.

Thanks to Ken N via Wikipedia for the photo.

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