Twins DH Jim Thome homered in first two at-bats on Saturday to pass Twins legend Harmon Killebrew for 10th all-time on the career home run list. Thome has 574 career home runs and trails Mark McGwire who is in 9th with 583.
Thome has been one of the most consistent and most underrated players of his generation, but he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.
Why you might ask? Here is six reasons why.
Reason 1: He has played in a small market for most of his career. Besides the few years he spent in Philly and last year when he played the last half of the year with LA, Thome was with small market teams: Cleveland for 11 years, 3 and a half on the South Side of Chicago, and 1 with Minnesota.
Reason 2: He is a nice guy who doesn’t do anything stupid to get noticed. He isn’t Manny Being Manny or he isn’t kissing himself on a mirror. Jim Thome is a great, down to earth guy. Also, he is known to be one of the nicest guys in the majors.
In 2007 he came in second in a MLB player’s poll for friendliest player. In 2002 he won the Roberto Clemente Award, which is awarded to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.
Reason 3: He played in the Steroid Era. Unfortunately Thome played in an era during which having success hitting home run came with a lot of scrutiny. Many other famous sluggers during this era have used performance enhancers and it has tainted the legacy of all hitters.
But has Thome been ever linked to any PEDs? Nope. Thome has never been on any of the lists that have been released, or in any tell all books, unlike some of the other stars that are featured in the top 10. (Bonds, Sosa, Rodriguez, and McGwire).
If you take out all the juicers, Thome would be 6th on the all-time home run list.
Reason 4: Played along with other great first baseman/DHs. During the 1997 season Thome moved from 3rd to 1st after the Tribe acquired Matt Williams.
During his prime from 1997 to 2007 the league featured a ton of great first baseman/DHs.
Here’s the AL list from 1997-2002: Tino Martinez, Edgar Martinez, McGwire, Frank Thomas, Rafael Palmeiro, Mo Vaughn, Giambi, Carlos Delgado, and Konerko.
Wow, 5 of those guys hit at least 400 home runs and that’s only in a 5 year span!
Let’s look at the 3 years he spent in the NL (2003-2005): Pujols, Todd Helton, Lance Berkman, Jeff Bagwell, and Derek Lee. All very good players.
Now back to the AL for two years (06-07): Ortiz, Youkilis, Teixeira and Morneau. All superstar first basemen. This brings me to my next reason.
Reason 5: He hasn’t played in a lot of All-Star Games. Thome has been in five All Star Games. FIVE!!! Are you kidding me!/
Lets look at all the sluggers in the top 10. Bonds 14x, Aaron 20x, Ruth 2x (but that does not really count because the All-Star Game started in 1933 and the Babe only played two more seasons after that), Mays 24x, Griffey 13x, Sosa 7x, Rodriguez 12x, Robinson 14x, McGwire 12x.
This suggests that Thome has been overlooked his whole career. From 2001 to 2003 Jim was voted in the top 10 for MVP, but didnt make an All Star Game in any of those years.
2002 was Thome’s greatest season. He had a career high 52 HRs, led the league in walks 122, slugging .667, OPS 1.122, and OPS+ 197…and he still didnt make the All Start Team! Life’s just not fair.
Reason 6: He has played DH for most of his career.
Because of back problems and poor defense, Thome has spent most of his career playing DH. Playing DH has help extend his career, and let him focus on hitting.
Many baseball purists dislike the DH, which is why you might not hear him being mentioned among the other great players.
So is Thome underrated? Yes.
Should he recognized as a great first basemen? Yes.
So in years to come Jim Thome should be acknowledged as one of the greatest home run hitters in this generation.
