The Big Hurt is a Big Free Agent

There was a period of time during the 1990’s when The Big Hurt, also known as Frank Thomas, was the most feared hitter in all of baseball. The World Champion Chicago White Sox refused to offer the two time American League MVP salary arbitration. Frank Thomas has been hurt for the better part of the last few years, and with the recent signing of Konerko to a huge $60 million dollar deal, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

I remember collecting all the Frank Thomas cards I could find when I was a kid. I’m sure most of you remember the famous Upper Deck card that features Thomas in the dugout flipping the camera the bird. That card was worth like $8.00 back then, I can only imagine what it will be worth now.

Everyone loved Thomas in the 90s. He had his own action figures, shoes, gloves, clothing line… you name it. My buddy named Frank used to actually wear the Frank Thomas cleats when we played Little League. Everyone thought he was the greatest player. 400 homeruns and 3 years a nagging injuries later, we can start striking up the debate of whether or not Thomas should be a Hall of Famer. I guess we can also start talking about whether or not he took steroids during the juiced up era we call the mid 90s.

I’d like to believe Thomas is clean. He was naturally a big dude and used to play football and baseball. I doubt he took steroids, but you do have to wonder why his name was called when Congress did their witch hunt. Now should Thomas be in the hall of fame? I guess that will have to be decided when he retires. I’m sure some team will pick him up to DH for awhile. Maybe the Blue Jays will with the way they’ve been spending money. The Orioles perhaps? Thomas is a borderline hall of famer, but now that he has his ring he might have enough to put him over the top.

Good luck Frank Thomas… wherever you go.