MobileBig Hurt Close to Retiring
Posted Jun 26th 2009 11:53AM by Tom Fornelli
With the White Sox and Cubs set to begin their second series against each other this season at U.S. Cellular Field, former White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas is back in Chicago, but instead of playing he's now a member of the local media. The two-time AL MVP is 41 years old now but he's still open to the idea of coming back and playing if anybody is interested in his services.The problem is that there just aren't that many teams in the market for a 41-year old designated hitter right now, and it's highly unlikely there will be any suitors for the Big Hurt in the near future. So it's not exactly a shocker that while giving a radio interview in Chicago on Thursday Thomas said he's very close to just hanging up his cleats.
''That percent right now [that I'll play again] is probably about 5 percent, since we're so deep into the season now,'' Thomas, who was released by Oakland after last season, told WMVP-AM (1000). ''But I'm still in shape, ready to go, if anything happens.The Big Hurt may feel there's a five percent chance he'll play again but I'm going to set his chances at about 0.0005 percent.
''But I'm getting close to announcing my retirement because I just turned 41. I just want to make sure that it's the move I really want to make.''
When he does finally retire the clock will set on what seems like a surefire induction into the Hall of Fame. I grew up in Chicago watching Frank play every day and until Manny Ramirez got to Boston, there was no doubt that Thomas was the greatest right-handed hitter I'd ever seen play the game. Of course, now that we know what Manny's been up to, I have no problem saying Thomas was the best I ever had the pleasure of watching.
Thomas is a career .301 hitter -- considering he hasn't hit .300 since 2000 that shows you how great a hitter he was in Chicago -- with 521 home runs, 1,704 RBI, 495 doubles and a career OPS of .974. Numbers that are surely deserving of Hall of Fame enshrinement, especially when considering that Thomas is one of the few sluggers of the last 15 years not suspected of using steroids or other PEDs.