The Man With The Ox In The Batter’s Box

Last night, against the Tigers, Jim Thome clubbed two opposite-field shots for homers #599 and #600.

First off, I don’t want to hear anything more about Thome’s Hall of Fame “case”.  Gimme a break!!  Let’s take a look at the career stats to this point:

.277 BA, 600 HR, 1,662 RBI, 1,710 BB, 2,453 SO, .403 OBP, .558 SLG, .961 OPS.

In his early years with Cleveland…

Thome teamed with Manny Ramirez to wreak havoc on the AL Central division.

After three powerful years in the NL with the Phillies…

Thome moved back to our division with the White Sox, where the long-balls kept flying:

Then, after a short stint in Los Angeles…

Big Jim came to Minny and provided us with many great memories in 2010-2011:

Better than anything, though, is that Jim Thome (much like Harmon Killebrew before him) is as humble as he is strong.  He respects the game, plays hard, enjoys his teammates, and just has fun hitting the ball hard.  A true hero playing through an era of cheats.

Preview (53-68, 4th, 7.5 GB CWS): Carl Pavano (6-9, 4.55) vs. Brad Penny (8-9, 4.99).