Frank Edward Thomas Jr. (born May 27, 1968), nicknamed “the Big Hurt”,[1] is an American former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for three American League (AL) teams from 1990 to 2008, all but the last three years with the Chicago White Sox. A five-time All-Star, he is the only player in major league history to have seven consecutive seasons (1991–1997) with at least a .300 batting average, 100 runs batted in (RBI), 100 runs scored, 100 walks, and 20 home runs. Thomas also won the AL batting title in 1997 with a .347 mark. Thomas is a two-time AL MVP and won a World Series in 2005 although he was injured during the regular season and World Series.
Frank Thomas Facts
- Born: May 27, 1968 (age 55) Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
- MLB debut: August 2, 1990, for the Chicago White Sox
- Last MLB appearance: August 29, 2008, for the Oakland Athletics
- Teams: Chicago White Sox (1990–2005), Oakland Athletics (2006)
- Awards: AL batting champion (1997)
Frank Thomas Early life and college
Thomas was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, and attended Columbus High School, where he was a standout in both football and baseball. As a sophomore, he hit cleanup for the baseball team, which won a state championship. As a senior, he not only hit .440, but also was named an All-State tight end in football, and played forward with the basketball team. He wanted desperately to win a contract to play professional baseball, but was not selected in the 1986 amateur draft.I was shocked and sad,” Thomas recalled in the Chicago Tribune. “I saw a lot of guys I played against get drafted, and I knew they couldn’t do what I could do. But I’ve had people all my life saying you can’t do this, you can’t do that. It scars you. No matter how well I’ve done. People have misunderstood me for some reason. I was always one of the most competitive kids around.”
In the autumn of 1986, Thomas accepted a scholarship to play football at Auburn University.His love of baseball drew him to the school’s baseball team, where the coach immediately recognized his potential. “We loved him,” Auburn baseball coach Hal Baird told Sports Illustrated. “He was fun to be around—always smiling, always bright-eyed.” He was also a deadly hitter, posting a .359 batting average and leading the Tigers in RBI as a freshman. During summer 1987, he played for the U.S. Pan American Team, earning a spot on the final roster in the Pan American Games. The Games coincided with the beginning of football practice back at Auburn, so he left the Pan Am team and returned to college—only to be injured twice in early-season football games.[citation needed] In the summer of 1988, Thomas played for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Highlights included a three-homer game in Wareham, as well as a home run over the 434′ sign in center field at Eldredge Park in Orleans. In 2000, Thomas was named a member of the inaugural class of the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame.
Despite the injury that could have jeopardized his football scholarship, Auburn continued his funding, and baseball became his sole sport. He won consideration for the U.S. National Team—preparing for the 1988 Summer Olympics—but was cut from the final squad. By the end of his junior baseball season, he had hit 19 home runs, 19 doubles, and batted .403 with a slugging percentage of .801. Thomas concluded his college career with 49 home runs, a school record. In May 2011, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
Frank Thomas Professional career
Thomas The Chicago White Sox selected Thomas with the seventh pick in the first round of the June 1989 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut on August 2, 1990, against the Milwaukee Brewers at County Stadium; he went without a hit, going 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a fielder’s choice which scored Iván Calderón as the White Sox won the game 4–3. On August 28, Thomas hit the first home run of his career in a road game against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome (which, coincidentally, would also be the site of his 500th career home run). He hit the home run off pitcher Gary Wayne in the top of the ninth inning as his team lost 12–6Thomas played in 60 games with the White Sox in 1990, batting .330 with seven home runs and 31 runs batted in (RBI).
Thomas became known for his menacing home run power; in the on-deck circle, he routinely swung a rusted piece of rebar that he reportedly found during a renovation project in Old Comiskey Park.In his first full season, Thomas established himself as a multi-talented hitter, combining power with hitting for average, drawing walks, and driving in runs. In 1991, Thomas finished third in MVP voting with a .318 batting average, 32 home runs and 109 RBI, as well as 138 walks. He won the first of four Silver Slugger Awards, and led the league in on-base percentage, something he would accomplish four times during his career. In 1993, Thomas batted .317 with a club-record 41 homers, 128 RBI, 106 runs scored, and 112 walks. He joined a quartet of Hall of Famers (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Ted Williams) as the only players in baseball history to eclipse .300 with more than 20 homers and more than 100 RBI, runs, and walks in three straight seasons. On the back of this historic offensive output, Thomas collected all 28 votes from baseball writers for a unanimous AL Most Valuable Player award, the first by a White Sox player since Dick Allen in 1972, while leading the White Sox to their first AL West crown in 10 years. At the time, statistical analyst Bill James projected career statistics of 480 homers and a .311 lifetime average. Then-manager Gene Lamont was laudatory of Thomas’ skills: “I’ve only seen him two years now, but I’m convinced that there isn’t a pitch he can’t hit.”[citation needed] White Sox announcer Ken Harrelson echoed the praise, “In my 30 years in the game, I’ve never seen anyone like Big Hurt [Thomas]. In another 30 years, we may be talking about Frank Thomas in the same way we talk about Ted Williams.”[citation needed] Thomas credited Harrelson with coining the “Big Hurt” nickname.
In 1994, playing just 113 games due to a strike-shortened season, Thomas again put up huge offensive numbers, batting .353 with 38 homers and 101 RBI, and he led the league in runs scored (106), Thomas walks (109), and slugging percentage with a whopping .729 mark.Thomas handily won his second consecutive MVP award, taking 24 of 28 first-place votes.He is one of only three first basemen in history to win consecutive MVP awards in the major leagues (Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, 1932–1933, and Albert Pujols, 2008–2009, are the others).
Thomas The 1994 shortened season was due to a players’ strike, and perhaps no one felt the sting of the strike more than Thomas, who stood poised to achieve one of baseball’s most prestigious honors: the Triple Crown. Not since 1967 had any player finished the regular season first in average, home runs, and runs batted in. Thomas had recorded 32 home runs at the All-Star break, and was contending for the honor when the strike occurred. Pressed by the media to comment on his accomplishments—and his future—Thomas downplayed his own significance, telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “I’m not into being known as the best by fans or the media. I care how I’m perceived by my peers. I can settle for the label ‘one of the best’ because that means you’re considered an elite player.”[citation needed
Thomas would continue putting up significant well-rounded offensive numbers, always placing in the top finishers in all major offensive categories, though rarely leading in any one stat. In 1995, he hit .308 with 40 homers and 111 RBI; in 1996, he hit .349 with 40 home runs and 134 RBI, and became an All-Star for the fourth time while finishing eighth in MVP voting.[
Frank Thomas Later years (1997–2005)
Thomas From 1991 to 1997, Thomas finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting every year.In 1997, Thomas won the batting title and finished third in MVP voting. However, due in part to personal strife off the field, his offensive production wavered during the next two seasons. Never a defensive standout at first base during the early part of his career, Thomas nonetheless preferred playing in the field to serving as a designated hitter, saying that it kept him focused; the fact that he did generally hit better as a first baseman created a dilemma over the years for the White Sox as to whether to use him as a DH, which would reduce wear on his body but might cost some offensive production. By the late 1990s, minor injuries were tending to keep him unavailable for short periods, and 1997 was the last year in which he played more in the field than as a DH. Thomas rebounded with force in 2000 when he hit .328 with a career-high 43 homers and 143 RBI.Thomas finished second in MVP voting that season, behind Jason Giambi of the Oakland Athletics.Thomas also won the 2000 AL Comeback Player of the Year Award. But this would not mean an end to the rocky path he would follow later in his career.
Thomas In 2001, after his father died, Thomas also announced during the same week that he would undergo season-ending surgery after an MRI revealed a triceps tear in his right arm. He was distraught from the combined impact of both personal and professional strife. “This is the worst week of my life,” he said during a press conference in Chicago. “First I lose my father, then come back and find out I’m lost for the season.” He only played in 20 games that year, batting just .221 with four home runs and 10 RBI.
Thomas He rebounded from his injury and played in 148 games in 2002, but hit just .252, a career-low for a complete season, and would never again approach a .300 batting average. Thomas However, his power and ability to get on base and drive in runs were still in his offensive arsenal, and he finished the season with 28 home runs and 92 RBI. Always a patient hitter, Thomas led the AL in walks four times. Through the end of the 2006 season, he was second among all active players in walks and third in on-base percentage, and ranked among the top 20 lifetime in both categories.
Thomas had another solid season in 2003. He tied for second in the AL in home runs , and was in the league’s top ten in walks, extra base hits, slugging average, and on-base plus slugging,as he led the major leagues in fly ball percentage (54.9%). In 2005, Thomas again suffered from injury, but hit 12 home runs in 105 at-bats over 35 games, demonstrating his continued power at the plate. Adding together 2004 and 2005, he had fewer than 350 total at-bats because of injuries, but hit 30 home runs and drew 80 walks. As a member of the White Sox, Thomas and teammate Magglio Ordóñez tied a major league record for back-to-back homers, with six in one season.
Frank Thomas Toronto Blue Jays (2007–2008)
Thomas On November 16, 2006, Thomas signed a two-year, $18 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. According to MLB.com, Thomas was scheduled to make $9 million in each of the two seasons. The contract included an option for 2009 contingent on his reaching 1,050 plate appearances over the next two seasons or 525 plate appearances in the second year of the contract.
On June 17, 2007, Thomas hit his 496th career home run against the Washington Nationals, giving him his 244th home run as a DH, breaking the record previously held by Edgar Martínez.
On June 28, 2007, Thomas hit the 500th home run of his career, becoming the 21st major league player to do so. It was a three-run shot off Minnesota’s Carlos Silva (Thomas’ 500th home run came on the same day Craig Biggio hit his 3,000th career hit). Despite Thomas being a player for the visiting team in the game, the Metrodome scoreboard still paid notice to his achievement. Thomas He was later ejected from this same game.
Thomas On September 17, 2007, Thomas hit three home runs in his team’s 6–1 win over the Red Sox. It was the second time in his career that Thomas hit three home runs in a game, the first time also having been against the Red Sox on September 15, 1996 in a White Sox loss.Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield started both games for the Red Sox, and gave up five of the six home runs Thomas hit, including all three in the first game.
Thomas During spring training in 2008, Thomas expressed his confidence about his team’s chances for the upcoming season. Thomas hit his first home run of the season against the Red Sox on April 5, in a 10–2 Blue Jays win.The following day, with the bases loaded and a 2–2 tie, Thomas hit a grand slam off Red Sox reliever Manny Delcarmen, leading the Jays to a 7–4 victory. On April 19, before a game against the Detroit Tigers, manager John Gibbons benched Thomas. Thomas expressed his frustration about the decision, and vowed that his career would “not end like this”. On April 20, 2008, the Blue Jays released Thomas.
Frank Thomas Business
Thomas serves as CEO and Founder of W2W Records, a record label based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also co-founded the record label Liger Enterprises with former Priority Records executive Ron Spaulding. The first project released under the company was Kenny Lattimore’s 2017 album, Vulnerable.
Thomas started his own microbrew, Big Hurt Beer, in 2011.
In November 2014, Thomas opened a brewpub,Thomas Big Hurt Brewhouse, in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois. The establishment closed in November 2016 but reopened the next year under the new name 35 Sports Bar and Grill.It closed for good in February 2018.
In 2018, Thomas was named spokesperson for Guaranteed Rate, a Chicago-based mortgage lender, who also own the naming rights to the White Sox home stadium, Guaranteed Rate Field.
On September 30, 2021, Go The Distance Baseball announced in a press release that Thomas purchased a controlling interest in Go The Distance Baseball LLC, owner of Field of Dreams in Iowa.
Thomas has been a spokesman for testosterone supplement Nugenix since 2015