Frank Thomas -- First Ballot HOF
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by user Joebook
Frank Thomas should be a first ballot HOF pick. During the 90s, he was the premier right-handed power hitter, and put up numbers not achieved by many in baseball history. Let's examine his resume:
-- Thomas is one of two players in MLB history (Ted Williams) to begin his career with eight consecutive seasons of 20HR, 100RBI, 100BB, 100R... and that includes the 1994 strike season, when Thomas only played 113 games.
-- Coming into this season, he had 448 home runs, and has 23 through August 5 this year... his AB/HR rate of 15.5 is 23rd in history, better than Aaron, Mays and Gehrig.
-- Thomas has two MVP awards, and was cheated out of a third in 2000 by Jason Giambi, who used performance enhancing drugs. 28 players have won two or more MVP awards, but only eight have won three or more.
-- His .425 career OBP ranks him 13th in history, and he's accumulated 1519 walks, good for 14th on the alltime list.
-- His .991 career OPS puts him at #11 and he sits at #15 on the career slugging list.
-- If he can stay healthy, he'll reach 500 HR next season, along with 1600 RBI and 1600 BB. Only Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Mel Ott are members of that club.
For those who are big anti-steroid guys, Thomas was one of the best players in his generation who was never accused of steroid use. Frank was a tight end at Auburn, and was always a large man. He did things the right way, with hard work and dedication. He'll never be known as a great defensive player, and more recently, injuries have relegated him almost exclusively to the DH role, but he was the most feared right-handed hitter of his time and deserves his ticket punched on the first ballot.
Keep in mind, he's still racking up numbers...
Date
Sun 08/06/06, 9:17 am EST
