Ever since the DH rule began with the Yankees somehow convincing the umpires to let Ron Blomberg bat the whole game instead of their pitcher, conservative baseball fans have detested it. I sort of see the DH-rule like the gay marriage issue of baseball: some believe that it does no harm and should be allowed, others believe that it is unnatural. So when the 6'5" 257 lbs. giant began to burst onto the MLB scene in 1990 as the White Sox DH, those purists ignored him. Well, they had to try with all their might, because in his second year, he posted 32 homers, 109 RBI, and led the league in on-base percentage, while coming in third in MVP voting. As Thomas' career progressed, he emerged as a star, and won two straight MVPs in 1993 and 1994 (fun fact: Thomas MVP counterpart from the NL was Jeff Bagwell, who shared Thomas' May 27, 1968 birthday). The one stat that will strike you about Thomas is his strikeouts. The stereotypical giant, power hitting DH is thought of to strikeout frequently. This isn't the case for Thomas, as he struck 100 times only 3 times in his career (to put that in perspective, Ryan Howard has struck out 100 times in each of his 5 full MLB seasons). When you factor in Thomas' power, plate vision (he lead the league in walks 4 times), and his hitting for average (career .301 batting average), the fact that he is a DH is irrelevant. Furthermore, Thomas is known to be one of the most professional and respectful players in the league. We should all take a second and realize how great Frank Thomas was, and how lucky we are to have witnessed as tremendous of a hitter as himself.
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Big Hurt calls it quits: A look at Frank Thomas' career
As a Red Sox fan, I remember the number 521 as the number of home runs the greatest hitter who ever lived, Ted Williams, tallied in his military-shortened yet illustrious career. However, today, February 12th 2010, the Splendid Splinter will now forever share a spot on the all-time homer list with a player who some say that their home runs are illegitimate. The illegitimacy does not stem from performance-enhancing drug allegations, using a corked bat, or having magical powers. Many baseball purists believe that Frank Thomas' 521 career dingers should be discounted in some way because of the simple fact that he doesn't play in the field.
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Nice. I was shocked by the strikeout stat. If I didn't know that, I would have put money that he had more 100 strikeout seasons than three. I also agree with you that though I can see where those 'baseball purists' are coming from, I think its ridiculous to "persecute" Thomas's numbers just because he was a DH. If anything, those people should be praising him because sitting on the bench for more than half of each game, and then having to come off the bench cold and rusty and hit is the hardest thing to do in sports, no matter what, and I refuse to believe any other argument.
ReplyDeleteThomas actually played 43% of his career games at 1B (for a quantitative total of 971 games...a noitceably significant amount). During his MVP years of 1993 and 1994, he played at 1B in 249 of his 266. Incidentally, his career fielding percentage was an eye-opening .991 (although admittedly that number is deceiving).
ReplyDeleteIt surprises me that sportscasters are classifying him as a pure DH, as though he is in the same category as Edgar Martinez (who played 1B/3B in only 30% of his career games and had a corresponding .952 fielding percentage).
His astounding offensive stats should make him hall-worthy regardless, as you point out, but I think that the DH criticism is being overblown.
you totally shocked me with those numbers. I didnt realize how much he actually played first base. This is probably due to the media classification like you stated.
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