Jim Thome
On Monday night, Jim Thome became the eighth player in MLB history to reach the 600 career home run milestone. He hit home runs 599 and 600 in consecutive at bats, the first player to do so. The milestone home run came in the top of the seventh inning off Tigers lefty Daniel Schlereth. Both of his home runs were hit to the opposite field in Comerica Park, quite a feat in its own right. Thome helped lead the Twins to a 9-6 victory over the Tigers.
Thome is one of just five players in the 600 home run club who has never been implicated as a steroid user. He needs ten more home runs to pass Sammy Sosa to move into 7th place on the all-time list. Although possible, it seems unlikely he will move up any further than that. Not that there was ever much question about it anyway, but this achievement further cements Thome’s Hall of Fame credentials. In addition to being one of the game’s all-time great sluggers, he has to be among the most respected by his peers as well. He has a reputation as an all-around great person. Personally, I couldn’t be happier for him, even though he plays for the Twins.
Thome has played for five major league teams in 21 seasons. He came up in the Indians organization, the team for which he hit the most home runs in 12 great seasons. He then had two very good seasons in Philadelphia before losing his job to Ryan Howard. Following the 2005 season, he was traded to the White Sox where he had 3 1/2 very productive seasons. After a brief stay with the Dodgers, he has spent the last two years in Minnesota.
Since Thome has been something of a part-time player for the Twins, his DTBL career has been stifled a bit in recent years. He has 546 career home runs, placing him third on the league’s all-time list behind Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. He is also third in career RBIs (1,492) and fifth in runs scored (1,402). However, he has not appeared on a DTBL roster this season and is currently a free agent.
Jim Thome has only played for two DTBL teams. Originally drafted by the Kings in 1995, they released him after four very productive years. He was the victim of a position crunch for the Kings who also had Frank Thomas and Mark McGwire at first base in ’98 (that was the season McGwire hit 70 home runs). The Kings loss was the Choppers gain though. They drafted Thome in the second round in 1999 and he promptly helped his new team win the DTBL Championship that season. He stuck around with the Choppers for 11 years and 401 home runs. Only Sammy Sosa has hit more home runs in a Choppers uniform. The Choppers finally let him go following the 2009 season. The Kings then reacquired him as a free agent last year, where he quietly put up solid numbers in a short period of time. He was cut following the season and has been a free agent since.
Congrats to Jim Thome!