First Baseman, Chicago White Sox
Age: 26 (May 27)
5th season
with White Sox
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’5” Weight: 240
Prior to 1994:
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 he 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. He
achieved his first MVP season in ’93 by batting .317 with 41 home runs and 128
RBIs while the White Sox won the AL West title.
1994 Season Summary
Appeared in 113
games
1B – 99, DH – 13,
PH – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 517 [5]
At Bats – 399
Runs – 106 [1]
Hits – 141 [4]
Doubles – 34 [3,
tied with Travis Fryman]
Triples – 1
Home Runs – 38 [2]
RBI – 101 [3,
tied with Albert Belle]
Bases on Balls
– 109 [1]
Int. BB – 12 [5,
tied with John Olerud]
Strikeouts – 61
Stolen Bases – 2
Caught Stealing
– 3
Average - .353
[3]
OBP - .487 [1]
Slugging Pct. -
.729 [1]
Total Bases – 291
[3]
GDP – 15 [6,
tied with Ruben Sierra & Andre Dawson]
Hit by Pitches
– 2
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 7 [7,
tied with Kirby Puckett & Geronimo Berroa]
League-leading
runs scored were +1 ahead of runner-up Kenny Lofton
League-leading bases
on balls drawn were +12 ahead of runner-up Mickey Tettleton
League-leading
OBP was +.027 ahead of runner-up Paul O’Neill
League-leading
slugging percentage was +.015 ahead of runner-up Albert Belle
League-leading
total bases were +33 ahead of runner-up Mark McGwire
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 32, RBI – 78, AVG – .383., SLG - .795
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) vs. Minnesota 5/25, (in 5 AB) at Minnesota 6/10 – 10 innings, (in
4 AB) at Detroit 7/7
Longest hitting
streak – 15 games
HR at home – 22
HR on road – 16
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 5 AB) vs. Minnesota 5/25, (in 4 AB) vs. Texas 6/21 – 10 innings
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 5 vs. Minnesota 5/25, at Milwaukee 7/9
Pinch-hitting –
0 for 1 (.000)
Fielding
Chances - 787
Put Outs – 735
Assists – 45
Errors – 7
DP – 74
Pct. - .991
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
Silver Slugger
All-Star (Started
for AL at 1B)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Frank Thomas,
ChiWS.: 372 pts. - 24 of 28 first place votes, 95% share
Ken Griffey
Jr., Sea.: 233 pts. – 3 first place votes, 59% share
Albert Belle,
Clev.: 225 pts. – 57% share
Kenny Lofton,
Clev.: 181 pts. – 1 first place vote, 46% share
Paul O’Neill,
NYY: 150 pts. – 38% share
---
White Sox went 67-46
to finish first in the AL Central Division, 1 game ahead of the Cleveland
Indians, at the point in August that a players’ strike prematurely shut down
the season and eliminated the postseason. They led the league in triples (39)
and fewest batter strikeouts (568). Ahead in the AL Central by as many as four
games following a surge in the second half of May, and behind by six after a
June swoon, the White Sox split a four-game series with Cleveland in July that
boosted the club into first to stay.
Aftermath of ‘94:
Another strong
season for Thomas 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 AL MVP voting. In 1996 “the Big Hurt” 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment