I never noticed this, but WHAT A NOSE!As far as I can tell, Frank Thomas is probably going to be forced to hang up the cleats this season - just shy of 2,500 hits. No one seems to want him after last year's ineffectiveness between Toronto and Oakland. Thomas still wants to play, ever vigilant. His ability to actually MOVE has been severely limited (let us not forget his boot-based excitement in the 2005 season), but the man can probably still hit the ball. Frank is also one of the only players to publicly advocate steroid testing and basically say "I want all those bastards who made me look normal to pay. I was and am 1,000 times better than everyone else - they needed to cheat just to stay the course with me."
At the same time, it also looks like the Sox aren't really making a gung-ho push to win the division. We got a "stop gap" pitcher in Colon, but really, we made no major acquisitions to help us during this season. Viciedo, Flowers, and the rest of the gang will contribute in the coming years, but they're not going to make our 2009 squad. If anything, this year is going to be a bridge where the old get out, and the young get in.
...so why not sign Thomas for a last hurrah?
Sure, Frank probably is still bitter at Reinsdorf and the rest of Sox management, but he always said that he loved the city and the fans (not to mention that desperation does a lot to change people's minds). There's no reason Thomas couldn't come back on a cheap salary as a pinch hitter. It's really a win-win for both sides: Frank gets to give a final farewell to the game, as well as rack up some additional stats in garbage time. Fans will come to see Big Frank for a last hurrah, and Sox management can help patch up their rocky relationship with some friendliness for the man in his time of need. A happy Frank is productive at the plate and in the clubhouse - not something to be overlooked.
Hell, there's even the possibility that Frank can PLAY, meaning that he might be USEFUL (I hadn't really considered this as an option). Go on Kenny - put out the olive branch and bring us back our hometown hero. It would certainly go well with your trend of acquiring washed up free agents...cough...cough...
4 comments:
Best idea I've heard this offseason. Hurt needs a sendoff Sox style, which would mean by the 8th game of the season he would blast Williams in the media for not allowing him to play and then the Kenny Williams would trade him to the Nationals for a goat and then would kill it at Wrigley preventing the Cubs from reversing the "curse".
Hell of a run on sentence huh?
Two things:
1) Thomas is the greatest player in Sox history bar none. What they did to him was horrific. He made $6 million in his highest paying year. For the franchise's best player ever. $6 million.
2) Ozzie was the one who caused him to be pushed out the door. He treated Thomas like shit in 1990 when he was a rookie and again in 2005. Ozzie is a class act.
OK, so Ozzie is a dick. What else is news?
Giving Frank more money, at the time, was probably not going to happen, The diminished skills clause made Frankie unhappy, and Albert Belle's ginormous contract spooked the Sox from committing to another player like that (BTW - Belle's "Top paid for position" clause was AMAZING).
Frank deserves a final tour of duty. Do I smell petition?
Yes, because what the White Sox need on the bench is another no-hit, no-speed, slugger.
I loved him too, but come on.
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