White Sox Honor Frank Thomas

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Aug 30, 2010 3:00PM

More accustomed to hitting in the middle of the lineup, Frank Thomas was up first on Sunday. Before the White Sox' 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees, the team honored the former superstar slugger by retiring his number. In a ceremony that included his family, countless former teammates and coaches, the Big Hurt had his photo and number 35 added to the left field wall honoring the team's greats.

Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf presented Thomas with a painting and framed jersey after a video tribune. Following the gifts, Sox greats Billy Pierce and Carlton Fisk unveiled Thomas' likeness on outfield wall between their own portraits.

An emotional Thomas addressed the crowd while choking back tears, "Eighteen years in this game, but 16 full ones here, it brought back a lot of memories, thinking about the great times — and bad times," he said. "It just caught up to me. I'm a very, very proud man today and this probably was the proudest day of my life."

Thomas retired from baseball following the 2008 season, having hit 521 home runs, 2468 hits, driven in 1704 runs and accumulating a .301 lifetime batting average. Thomas won the American League MVP award in 1993 and '94, while finishing second in 2000 and third in '97.

In addition to adding Thomas's jersey number to the wall of retired numbers, the team also announced on Sunday that a bronze statue of the Big Hurt will be added to the collection along the outfield concourse, to be unveiled next season.