Monday, July 18, 2011

Jim Thome, a Hall of Famer in the Making

Jim ThomeJim Thome honoring Harmon Killebrew by marking his 520-ft home run that occured at Met Stadium.



There once was an ox in the batter's box...

Jim Thome hit his 596th career home run on Sunday at Target Field against the Kansas City Royals. Thome is only four runs away from 600 and, when he reaches that milestone that only 7 others have reached, talks will really heat up about Jim Thome as a future Hall of Famer.

Honestly, I don't know what there is to talk about. Hands down Thome deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and he deserves that recognition the first year his name is on the ballot. Take a look at some of Thome's numbers and facts:

Thome is eighth on the all-time home run list and he did that all without ever being associated with steroids, unlike three of the players who have hit more than 600 HRs. The players ahead of Thome are: Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey (630), Alex Rodriguez (626) and Sammy Sosa (609). You can guess who may or may not have taken performance enhancing drugs. I'll give you a hint in the form of an intricate, albeit silly, verbiage: if you are jailed behind A ROD, more commonly known as behind bars, you may need to pay a bail BONDs, or SOsa I have heard, in order to secure your release. Clearly Thome is much more appealing considering he didn't cheat his way to talent.

Thome has also hit had power house seasons when it comes to home runs. His career best season came in 2002, when he hit 52 home runs. Thome has hit 40 or more home runs six times and hit 30 or more home runs 12 times in his career. Those are stellar numbers. When compared to Ken Griffey, Thome has similar batting stats though Griffey takes over when it comes to defense. Being a DH makes it just that much harder to reach the Hall of Fame.

Thome is 28th all-time with 1,646 RBI and 9th all-time with 1,701 walks. Nice, Thome, nice.

No doubt all of Thome's numbers will increase throughout this season and hopefully one or two more should he wish to remain in the MLB. He is still searching for a World Series ring after all. This year Thome is sure to eclipse his 600 HR stat, let's hope after he retires he is as sure to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame.

2 comments:

  1. Thome will most definitely be a hall of famer. Not as a first ballot or a twin but he will be in the HOF, most likely as an Indian.

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  2. I have to agree that he won't be a HOFer as a Twin, though I am bias and wish he were! Thanks for your comment, Uth Pastor 4 Life - I appreciate it.

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