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Frank Thomas

Frank Thomas was born May 27, 1968, in Columbus, Georgia (interestingly, the exact same day as contemporary Jeff Bagwell). Frank Thomas became one of baseball's biggest stars in the 1990's, playing solely for the Chicago White Sox. He was given the nickname "The Big Hurt" by broadcaster Ken Harrelson.

He is notable not for his below-average defense at first base, but for being one of the best pure hitters in baseball's history. He has been compared to being as close to a right-handed version of Ted Williams there is. A slugger who hits 35-40 home runs a year as a matter of course, hits .330 or better most years, and most importantly, takes well over 100 walks a season, Frank Thomas has proven himself to be one of the top five right-handed hitters ever, and the second best hitter since 1990, only behind Barry Bonds. Frank Thomas's on base percentage is in the top-ten career, of any ballplayer in history.

Unfortunately, Frank Thomas has been much maligned by the media, especially in Chicago. Much of this came about after a disastrous 2002 season, in which he performed so poorly that the White Sox invoked a "diminished skills" clause in his contract. He resurrected his career in 2003; although he hit a subpar .267, he was tied for second in the American League in home runs (42) and was in the league's top ten in walks, extra-base hits, slugging percentage, and OPS.