Frank Thomas was one of the best hitters in baseball history. However, some people feel that he is a borderline case for the Hall of Fame. I’d like to take a look at his career and show why he should be a lock for the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible for induction in 2014.
Here are Frank Thomas’s career numbers:
.301 BA, .419 OBP, .555 SLG, .974 OPS, 521 HRs, 1704 RBIs
Lets take a look at these numbers in terms of their place in history. The 521 HRs are tied for 18th all time. His .974 career OPS is tied for 14th all time. The 1704 RBIs is 22nd all time.
Lets add in Thomas’ awards and recognition in his career. Thomas appeared in 5 All Star games, placed in the top ten of MVP voting 9 times, won two MVP awards, and won 4 silver slugers.
From 1991 to 1997 Frank Thomas was the most feared hitter on the planet. During that time period he averaged the following
.330 BA, .452 OBP, .604 SLG, 1.056 OPS, 36 HRs, 118 RBIs
To put it bluntly, that is scary. He lead the league in batting 1997 and was in the top three another three times. He lead the league in OPS four of those years. He developed the nickname the “Big Hurt” for a reason.
Normally, everything I said above should be more than enough to convince someone of his eligibility, but some might say that Frank Thomas’ numbers were inflated because he played during a high offensive era in baseball history. While that may be partially true, his numbers stand out even when compared to his peers during this time. His career OPS+, which measures OPS relative to the rest of the league, is at an outstanding 156. How good is that? It’s good enough to be tied for 19th all time. How does it compare to other first basemen in the Hall of Fame?
Lou Gehrig: 179
Jimmie Foxx: 163
Hank Greenberg: 158
Johnny Mize: 158
Frank Thomas: 156
Willie McCovey: 147
Harmon Killebrew: 143
Orlando Cepeda: 133
Eddie Murray: 129
Tony Perez: 122
It’s already ahead of legends Willie McCovey and Harmon Killebrew. It’s only a hair below Hank Greenberg and Johnny Mize. How does Frank Thomas’ career WAR compare to other first basemen greats?
Lou Gehrig: 108.5
Jimmie Foxx: 92.5
Frank Thomas: 69.7
Johnny Mize: 67.8
Eddie Murray: 63.4
Willie McCovey: 60.7
Hank Greenberg: 55.1
Harmon Killebrew: 55.8
Tony Perez: 50.1
Orlando Cepeda: 46.1
So that’d be third all time for this group of modern era first basemen. He’s a notch above a number of legendary first basemen.
It appears that the only thing that might hold Frank Thomas back in Hall of Fame voting is the suspicion that he may have used PEDs during his career. Frank Thomas has been very adamant about how his career was clean, he never tested positive for PEDs, and has never been connected to PEDs.
I am very inclined to believe Thomas never used PEDs. Unlike players such as Barry Bonds, there were not sudden increases in performance during the later stages of Thomas’ career. From 1998 to 2003 (his age 30-35 seasons) his numbers declined to:
.282 BA, .395 OBP, .523 SLG, .917 OPS
During these six years he hit above .300 only twice. For the remaining five years of his career (age 36-40 seasons), Thomas hit:
.264 BA, .379 OBP, .503 SLG, .882 OPS
Again, showing an increased decline in performance. If anything, it strongly suggests that Thomas aged gracefully, as one expects an aging player to do. In contrast, Barry Bonds had the best years of his career from age 36-39, which is highly unusual.
I truly hope that voters will not treat Frank Thomas with some type of PED bias. Everything indicates that Thomas is a clear Hall of Famer, and in due time, I expect he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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Sources:
Baseball-Reference.com – Major League Baseball Statistics and History”, Baseball-Reference
“Wikipedia”
