The Big Hurt

Frank Thomas began his career in 1990 with the White Sox. He played in 60 games that year, and showed some definite promise batting .330 with 7 homeruns. He showed a keen eye for the strike zone, and the ability to remain calm at the plate no matter the situation. His first full year in 1991 he was third in MVP voting. He showed the ability to not only hit for power, but to hit for average as well. He crushed 32 HR's, drove in 109 runs and batted .318. I was 16 at the time and really into baseball, he quickly became my favorite player. My Dad was a Sox fan before me, I remember Harold Baines was his favorite player from the time I was 5. I liked HB to, but I never really had a favorite until "The Big Hurt" came along. I heard the announcers calling him the "Big Hurt", and I always thought that was funny. He was such a big guy, he just hurt that ball.

Frank was simply the man year in and out for the Sox. He would go on to drive in 100+ runs in 9 of the next 10 years. He's one of only two players to win back-to-back MVP's while playing First Base. He was in the top ten voting for MVP almost every year during that 10 year run. He was amazing to watch, he could hit any pitch. He could hit if he was down 0-2, or if he was ahead 3-0. Runners on base, bases empty, he was simply unstoppable with almost a .450 OBP over those 10 years. That means he was on base almost every other time he grabbed a bat, that is unbelievable.
In 1994 he had 38 homeruns, 101 RBI's, and a .353 batting average......in only 113 games thanks to the strike shortened year. The White Sox were in first place that year, and had everything rolling, and then the strike hit. Oh, what could have been that year. We had it all, pitching, defense, offense....and the Big Hurt.

Frank recently hit his 500th homerun the other day, and now sits at 501 for his career. And although he isn't a member of the Sox anymore, he will forever be a White Sox' in my heart. I have a poster in my sports room of Big Frank leaning against a bat smiling. While playing MLB07 the show this past weekend with my 6 year old son, he asked me about "that big guy" on the wall. I told him it was the Big Hurt, Frank Thomas. He asked why they called him that, and before I could answer he said "probably because the ball hurts after he hits it".....and I said, "yeah, I bet it does".

So I just want to thank Frank Thomas. Thanks for the memories, thanks for being a leader on the field, thanks for playing the game with integrity, and thanks for hurting that ball every year. I look forward to your HOF speech when you decide to retire.