Age: 25 (May 27)
4th season
with White Sox
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’5” Weight: 240
Prior to 1993:
A native of
Columbus, Georgia, Thomas was a football as well as baseball standout in high
school. Entering Auburn University, he played tight end on the freshman
football team and batted .359 on the baseball squad in the spring of 1987,
earning a spot on the US team for the Pan-American Games. After suffering an
injury in the subsequent football season, he turned his concentration fully to
baseball and was named Southeast Conference MVP in 1989. Selected by the White
Sox as the seventh overall pick in the ’89 amateur draft he played for teams at
the Rookie and Class A levels and hit .296 with 5 home runs and 41 RBIs in 72
games. Advancing to the Birmingham Barons of the Class AA Southern League in
1990 Thomas batted .323 with 18 home runs and 71 RBIs. Called up for a
late-season trial with the White Sox, he hit .330 with 7 home runs and 31 RBIs
while appearing in 60 games. Playing primarily as a Designated Hitter during
his first full season in 1991, Thomas established himself by batting .318 with
32 home runs and 109 RBIs. He also drew a league-leading 138 walks and topped
the AL with a .453 on-base percentage. He was awarded his first Silver Slugger
and placed third in league MVP voting. Installed at first base in 1992, Thomas
again led the AL by drawing 122 walks and with a .439 on-base percentage. He
also topped the circuit with 46 doubles while hitting .323 with 24 home runs and
115 RBIs. Nicknamed “The Big Hurt” for the damage he did to opposing pitchers,
by 1993 Thomas was already an offensive force to be reckoned with.
1993 Season Summary
Appeared in 153
games
1B – 150, DH – 4
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 676 [16]
At Bats – 549
Runs – 106 [10]
Hits – 174 [12]
Doubles – 36
[11, tied with Albert Belle, Brady Anderson & Wally Joyner]
Triples – 0
Home Runs – 41 [3]
RBI – 128 [2]
Bases on Balls
– 112 [4]
Int. BB – 23 [3,
tied with Mo Vaughn]
Strikeouts – 54
Stolen Bases – 4
Caught Stealing
– 2
Average - .317
[6]
OBP - .426 [4]
Slugging Pct. -
.607 [3]
Total Bases – 333
[3]
GDP – 10
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 13
[2, tied with Carlos Baerga]
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 20, RBI – 68, AVG – .302, SLG – .559
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) at Texas 5/16, (in 4 AB) vs. Cleveland 7/27, (in 5 AB) at Texas
8/3
Longest hitting
streak – 18 games
HR at home – 26
HR on road – 15
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 4 AB) at Baltimore 7/11, (in 4 AB) vs. Cleveland 7/27, (in 4 AB)
vs. NY Yankees 8/23 – 10 innings
Multi-HR games
– 3
Most RBIs, game
– 5 vs. Toronto 4/30, at Baltimore 7/11, vs. Cleveland 7/27
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances - 1320
Put Outs – 1222
Assists – 83
Errors – 15
DP – 128
Pct. - .989
Postseason: 6 G
(ALCS vs. Toronto)
PA – 27, AB – 17,
R – 2, H – 6, 2B – 0,3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 3, BB – 10, IBB – 2, SO – 5, SB – 0,
CS – 0, AVG - .353, OBP - .593, SLG -.529, TB – 9, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
Silver Slugger
All-Star
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Frank Thomas,
ChiWS.: 392 pts. - 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share
Paul Molitor,
Tor.: 209 pts. – 53% share
John Olerud,
Tor.: 198 pts. – 51% share
Juan Gonzalez,
Tex.: 185 pts. – 47% share
Ken Griffey Jr,
Sea.: 182 pts. – 46% share
---
White Sox went
94-68 to finish first in the AL Western Division by 8 games over the Texas
Rangers, while leading the league in triples (44) and fewest batter strikeouts
(834). The White Sox moved into first place to stay on July 7 and coasted to
the AL West title. Lost ALCS to the Toronto Blue Jays, 4 games to 2.
Aftermath of ‘93:
Thomas followed
up with another outstanding season during the strike-shortened 1994 campaign,
batting .353 with 38 home runs and 101 RBIs while also leading the American
League in runs scored (106), walks drawn (109), on-base percentage (.487), and
slugging percentage (.729). He was once again voted the league MVP. Another
strong season in 1995 made him the first player in baseball history to bat .300
with at least 20 home runs, 100 RBIs, 100 runs scored, and 100 walks drawn over
five consecutive seasons. His totals were a .308 average, 102 runs, 40 home
runs, 111 RBIs, and a league-leading 136 walks drawn (29 intentional). He
placed eighth in MVP voting. In 1996 Thomas suffered a stress fracture
in his left foot that cost him 18 games, but still ended up batting .349 with
110 runs scored, 40 home runs, 134 RBIs, and 109 walks drawn. Thomas won the AL
batting title in 1997 by hitting .347 along with 110 runs, 35 home runs, 125
RBIs, and 109 bases on balls. “The Big Hurt” followed up with a relative
off-year in 1998, batting just .265 with 29 home runs and 109 RBIs while still
drawing 110 walks while used almost exclusively as a DH. Bothered by a foot
injury that required surgery in 1999, and splitting time between DH and first
base, his batting average rebounded to .305 with just 15 home runs and 77 RBIs.
In 2000 Thomas, now typically a Designated Hitter, returned to form by batting
.328 with 43 home runs and 143 RBIs. He finished a close second in league MVP
balloting. A triceps tear that required surgery limited Thomas to 20 games in
2001 and when he returned in 2002 he batted only .252 with 28 home runs and 92
RBIs. While his average remained low at .267 in 2003, his productivity was
strong at 42 home runs and 105 RBIs. Limited to a total of 108 games due to
injuries in 2004 and ’05, Thomas was not on the postseason roster that
culminated in World Series triumph for the White Sox in 2005. Departing for the
Oakland A's as a free agent, he was the regular DH in 2006 and hit .270 with 39
home runs and 114 RBIs. Moving on to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007 he batted
.277 with 26 home runs and 95 RBIs. Released by Toronto early in the 2008
season, he returned to Oakland where he hit .263 in his final season. After not
playing in 2009, Thomas retired. For his major league career, he batted .301
with 2468 hits that included 495 doubles, 12 triples, and 521 home runs. He
scored 1494 runs, reaching 100 in a season nine times, and compiled 1704 RBIs,
reaching 100 in a season eleven times. He further drew 1667 walks and had a
.419 on-base percentage. With the White Sox he batted .307 with 2136 hits, 1327
runs, 447 doubles, 11 triples, 448 home runs, 1465 RBIs, 1466 bases on balls,
and a .427 OBP and .568 slugging percentage. Appearing in 16 postseason games,
Thomas hit .224 with 3 home runs and 5 RBIs. A five-time All-Star, he was in
the top ten of MVP voting nine times, including the two wins. He further was
awarded four Silver Sluggers. The White Sox retired his #35 and he was inducted
into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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