1) Frank Thomas is a former first baseman/designated hitter and 2-time American League MVP, 5-time all-star, and 2014 MLB Hall of Fame inductee who played for the Chicago White Sox for 15 seasons. He is widely considered the greatest player in Chicago White Sox history.
2) Thomas is also known as the "The Big Hurt," a nickname given to him because of the damage he inflicted on opposing pitchers and the baseball.
3) A three-sport star in high school, Frank played on the baseball, football, and basketball teams. He earned a scholarship to play football at Auburn University and also played on the baseball team. Ultimately, baseball became his only sport in college and he left Auburn with a school record of 49 home runs.
D: Who is the toughest pitcher you've ever faced?
FT: There's a lot of them. Wow, that's a loaded question! Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Jeff Nelson out of relief. I mean there were a lot of great pitchers back there in my time.
D's Follow Up: I do not know any of those pitchers because I was not alive. They must have been great players if they could get Frank Thomas out.
J: What was the hardest part about playing football and baseball?
FT: You know what, it wasn't hard because I did it my whole life. So when I got to college it was no big deal. It was just like it was when I was growing up. All year long I was playing sports, so it was easy for me.
J: Why did you choose baseball over football?
FT: Longevity. So I could play a long time.
J's Follow Up: I play sports all year long too. I can see how it would be easy for him because I'm used to playing soccer, flag football, basketball, and golf.
I think you could play baseball longer than football because you could get hurt and your career could end. I think Frank Thomas made a good choice because he was really good at baseball and played for a long time.
We are excited to have our friend and the biggest White Sox fan we know, Chris Rhode, help us out with this blog post. We found out late the night before that "The Big Hurt" would be visiting Buona Beef in Orland Park and taking pictures and meeting with fans. We asked Chris if he would like to provide the questions to ask Frank Thomas and if he would share his take on the answers. Chris was excited to help out and lend his White Sox expertise to the blog. Jordan and Danny were excited to ask Chris' questions and Chris delivered with his take and makes this our best post yet. Thank you, Chris!
Chris Rhode with Frank Thomas at Hawthorn Mall, Vernon Hills
Chris Rhode's Take
The following commentary is from our friend Chris Rhode
On the toughest pitchers Thomas has faced
Frank is a 2 time AL MVP, a career .301 hitter, and the owner of 521 career home runs. He is one of the greatest right handed hitters of all time and made many pitchers uncomfortable on the mound. When Frank shares his opinion on the toughest pitchers to face, everyone should consider his opinion valid. He mentions 3 of the greatest pitchers of all time and a journeyman reliever as his toughest pitchers to face. Jeff Nelson was known for his slider and from a sidearm arm slot, he was tough on right handed hitters like Frank. As a lifelong Sox fan who watched the entirety of Frank's career, Nelson is an interesting name as he wasn't the first guy that came to mind when I tried to guess Frank's answer. However, now that I hear his name in this discussion, I remember many tough at bats for The Big Hurt. Nelson typically pitched in the late innings meaning that his appearances against Frank were usually with the game on the line. Frank hit only .161 off Nelson in his career so the numbers support Frank's memory. The fact that Frank mentions him in the discussion with 3 of the greatest pitchers of all time should tell you everything you need to know about how tough he was on a Hall of Fame hitter like Frank Thomas. Jeff Nelson did end up pitching one season for the White Sox in 2006. It was the first season after Frank left Chicago for Oakland.
Chris and Nikki Rhode at Mark Buehrle Day 6/24/17
On the challenges of playing football and baseball
This doesn't surprise me about natural athletes. In my opinion, the thing that makes baseball a great sport is that you don't need to be a certain size to be good at it. Being a big football player gave Frank an advantage to be able to hit home runs but players smaller than him were able to play just as well. Frank Thomas was and still is a big guy so it should surprise no one that he was an accomplished football player but could also hit a baseball a long ways. He was a tight end so clearly he could move pretty well and he would be a tough guy to tackle in the open field. The thing I always think about when watching any professional sport is that these guys that we watch on TV typically played many sports growing up. The skills they learn from the multitude of sports translate in to all sorts of benefits in other sports. Kids these days get specialized in a sport too early and can get burned out on it. I'm glad to hear Frank speak fondly about being a multi-sport athlete. More kids need to grow up playing many sports and experiencing as much as they can.
On why Thomas chose football over baseball
This is a great answer from Frank. The case study for this issue is the fellow Auburn Tiger Bo Jackson. Bo of course played professional football and baseball and had the skill set to be a Hall of Famer in both sports. That would have been an incredible feat but it wasn't to be after Bo needed a hip replacement after getting hurt playing football. He did come back from the injury and made history as the first man to play professional baseball with an artificial hip but he wasn't the same player after the injury. The injury sustained playing football not only ended his football career but it also shortened his baseball career. As I mentioned, Bo could have been an all time great in 2 sports but instead is the poster child for the "what if" athlete. Frank on the other hand, stuck with baseball and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.
A big thanks to Chris for chiming in!
