I’m NYC born and bred, but things like that make me love Chicago even more.

More random doubles trivia: Albert Belle twice tied the record with 4 doubles in a game… all within one month’s worth of games in 1999.

Numbers courtesy of the Baseball Almanac and Baseball Reference.

I love Frank Thomas… he my favorite player ever, and, like many of these readers, and am fortunate to be able to say that he did it the right way… clean and through hard work.

If he was as shady and unethical as Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, RPal, A-Rod, etc… he could potentially have 650+ homers already and still have time to add on like Bonds did when he turned 40…

i DO think a man who stands in a parking lot waxing his car while ignoring half a dozen children are pleading for a brief moment of his time because they admire him is acting like a jerk, but OF COURSE it could’ve just been a bad day. i said myself that the sox had lost a tough game that night.

but, that was the closest contact i ever had with the man. and it’s not as though mine is the only story of a moody, petulant frank thomas. i can certainly understand why doug would love thomas, it sounds like frank was a true pleasure on the day he met him. we each have a view of thomas as a man largely shaped by a single encounter.

that’s why dimaggio said he always played hard, “there’s always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time.” thomas wasn’t playing, and i don’t downgrade him as a player for that night (the man could RAKE, and should be 1st ballot to cooperstown), but when i think of him as a person, of course it taints him for me. people take things personally, kids especially. i was a kid.

i don’t know if he’s a good person or not, neither does doug, neither does joe. i’m unwilling to use rumor and drug tests as some final or supreme litmus of any single player’s character or abilities.

i glad thomas still has supporters willing to stand up for him. i live in chicago and have plenty of sox’ fan friends, and thomas’ name hardly comes up, he seems forgotten. he drew boos when i saw him at comiskey in an A’s uniform. he was too good a player to not have a lot of fans, it’s just that i’ll never be one of them.

I grew up in Southern California, and my dad had FANTASTIC season tickets for the Angels. I didn’t really have a rooting interest in any team yet, as I rebelled against the that you must root for the local team. In 1991, when I was 12, I started getting autographs during batting practice, and then getting the players when they arrived at the stadium, and eventually getting them at hotels and whatnot.

Ultimately, I ended up becoming a White Sox fan. You know why? Because of how fan friendly their players were, particularly their well known players. In particular, Frank Thomas was absolutely the best signer in the league, as far as stars go. He signed before almost every game. He would line up all the fans waiting in the parking lot, and sign for them when he arrived at the stadium. He would also usually sign during batting practice. I probably attended 50 White Sox games, and I would say I Frank signed at 40 of them. I’m even shown on Frank’s 1995 Score baseball card, while he is signing autographs in 95 degree heat during batting practice of a game against the Angels. I’m the guy in the green cap, with a pen cap in his hand, looking to my left.

http://beta.beckett.com/item/4093732/Baseball-Card/Collection/1995-Score-1-Frank-Thomas/?tab=Price

So please don’t judge Frank on ONE isolated incident. It isn’t fair to him. To this day, I am a HUGE White Sox fan, almost solely based on Frank Thomas and his combination of awesome talent and incredible fan friendliness.

Doug

Players don’t just break down suddenly at age 30 after years of good health.

They do when they’re as notoriously as indifferent to conditioning as Griffey was.