Frank Thomas To Announce Retirement

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Feb 12, 2010 3:20PM

WhiteSox.com

One of our favorite baseball players, former White Sox slugger Frank Thomas, is expected to officially announce his retirement from baseball later today at a press conference in Chicago. The "Big Hurt" broke into the majors with the White Sox in 1990 and played in Chicago through the 2005 season. For much of his time in Chicago, he was among the most feared hitters in the game. His 1994 slugging percentage of .729 was the highest in the American League since Ted Williams, and perhaps he could have led the Sox to a World Series title in 1994 had the strike not wiped out the end of the season. While injured for much of the '05 season, he did win a World Series ring with the team in his final year with the club. Thomas played for a season and a half each in Oakland and Toronto after departing the Sox, but did not play in 2009.

The 41-year-old slugger ends his career with a career .301 batting average, 521 home runs, 2,468 hits, and 1,704 RBI's, numbers that would have ensured first ballot Hall of Fame entry a generation ago. He'll be eligible in 2014, but will he be enshrined right away? While Thomas won the MVP award in 1993 and 1994 and was a five-time All-Star, he also had a reputation for being a bit surly. But perhaps he was simply frustrated with the state of the game and its impact on his legacy. While the taint of steroids has lessened the impressiveness of many of his peers' gaudy stats, there was never the cloud of performance enhancing drugs hanging over his head. In fact, Thomas had been one of the most outspoken advocates for increases testing as far back as the mid-90's and was the only active player to voluntarily be interviewed for the Mitchell Report. Just a few years ago there was much debate as to as to whether or not he was Hall of Fame worthy. But perhaps Thomas truly was the greatest hitter of his era, and just as the HOF voters in recent years have penalized the likes of Mark McGwire, they'll reward Thomas for what he accomplished without resorting to PED's.

At Friday's press conference, it's expected to be announced that the White Sox will retire Thomas' #35 jersey sometime this summer, perhaps in early August, which will mark the 20 year anniversary of when Thomas first broke in with the Sox UPDATE: Sunday, August 29. We remember attending a game at the old Comiskey Park and seeing the new prospect play not too long after that, we could tell even then that he would be a star. And it makes us feel old to realize that was now two decades ago, but at least the "Big Hurt" didn't disappoint. That was our first chance to see the player who ultimately did become one of the best to ever wear the White Sox jersey.