Frank Thomas, who played most of his career with the Chicago White Sox, but also spent time with the A's and Blue Jays, sported number 35 every year (even if some years it was in addition to other numbers) and is the best MLB athlete to ever wear that number.
Over a 19 year career, Thomas smacked 521 homers, 1,704 RBI, 2,468 hits and batted a career .301.
Thomas was taken by the Sox with the 7th pick in the 1989 amateur baseball draft. The hulking first baseman out of Auburn University quickly made an impact in the major leagues. In 1990, with 191 at-bats, Thomas batted .330 with seven dingers. Playing full time in his sophomore MLB season, he would smack 32 dingers.
Thomas would continue to put up double digit numbers in the home run category, through 2007, for each season that he was healthy enough to play the majority of the year. His peak season came in 2000, when he would knock 43 over the fence with 143 RBI and a .328 batting average.
Did you know......Frank Thomas' nickname is "The Big Hurt"?
1 comments: