ESPN's SportsNation Question Today

[McCall]

Just a little personal note about him in regards to his likeability amongst everybody in the league; he is putting all 10 of his nieces and nephews through college. I know that has no effect on his HOF status or his place in league history, but it sure goes to show just what type of character this guy has. There's not many players like him around these days, or maybe ever.

[OnWis97]

Ah, that's a good point too. Adds a whole other dimension to the discussion.

If we were going just on skill as a ballplayer and not as a leader personality, does that put him back near the top?

I have never considered Thome to be a 'ballplayer' as he has spent more then 90% of his time in the major leagues as a DH, which means he is nothing but a glorified pinch hitter who just happens to stay in the lineup but because he is such a :censored:ty fielder, gets out of actually having to y'know show that he has any actual skills in the field.

The proper question should be, is Thome one of the best hitters of his era. Again, the answer is no, because the best hitters don't average 162 strikeouts a year.

Simply not true. He has been a DH of late and he was never stellar in the field, but he DH'd a lot less than HOFer Paul Molitor. Molitor was DH 1177 out of 2683 games (44%), while Thome to this point has DH'd 757 of 2457 (31%). Oddly, Molitor was a much better defensive player, but probably DH'd because he just kept getting hurt.

As for the strikeouts, his 162 game average is 162 (a bit different from 162 per year), which is exceedingly high vs. other HOF sluggers. The strikeout is not nearly as shameful as it used to be in previous eras, but I guess his rate of striking out may be unprecedented territory for voters. I think the other stats get him in. In fact, it's a done deal...we don't have to like it, but I think we have to accept it. Barring more association between his name and PEDs, it's going to happen.

[TheClevelandHockey]

As I understand it, he would get hurt. He started in Cleveland at 3rd base, couldn't throw (some mental block or whatever) then moved to 1st and started destroying. My guess is he moved to DH so he wouldn't get hurt because he had a bad back, but that was later on in his career with the Wahoos.

Come to think of it, He's a lot like Travis except Travis hasn't fielded. Ever.

[pcgd]

I always thought of him as a clean Mark McGwire. Although I was wrong. They had Similar numbers but Thome's are a bit better than McGwire. He's most like Frank Thomas who's a hall of famer and one of the best of his era. Here's his 10 most similar players according to Baseball Reference:

Frank Thomas

Sammy Sosa

Mike Schmidt

Harmon Killebrew

Mickey Mantle

Willie McCovey

Willie Stargell

Fred McGriff

Manny Ramirez

Jeff Bagwell

Pretty good list. 5 hall of famers plus at least 2 more that will most likely be hall of famers (Bagwell and Thomas) He was one of the best of his era, maybe not the best but one of them certainly.

[DuckFats]

How many other players have hit 600 home runs without steroids? Enough said. First ballot Hall of Famer. Was he the best of his era? No. Was he one of the best? Well only Aaron, Ruth, Mays, and Griffey, Jr. have hit 600 home runs without steroids. I'm sorry anyone who thinks Jim Thome is not a Hall of Fame player, is a fool. Anyone who says that he was a DH, shows their lack of intelligence. He only became a DH when he joined the White Sox, before that he was a 3B and 1B for the Indians and played 1B for the Phillies. He played 16 years in the field and was a good fielder. Was he a gold glove fielder? No. But bring all the cutesy and made up stats that people who never played the game created. He is a Hall of Famer and there's nothing your stats or even your opinions can do about that!

Let's see a cite for Barry Bonds testing positive for steroids.

And Aaron cheated and used drugs and illegal performance enhancing drugs and Mays did as well. And before you start frothing at the mouth and screeching CITE!!! CITE!!!, I am of course referring to the endemic use and abuse of 'greenies' ie; 'uppers' ie; speed by every player in the major leagues for well over 50 years.

And despite all of your inane bleats and outright lies in your post perhaps your worst one is the whole

He (Jim Thome) is a Hall of Famer

.

No he isn't, as he hasn't been elected yet.

[TheClevelandHockey]

How many other players have hit 600 home runs without steroids? Enough said. First ballot Hall of Famer. Was he the best of his era? No. Was he one of the best? Well only Aaron, Ruth, Mays, and Griffey, Jr. have hit 600 home runs without steroids. I'm sorry anyone who thinks Jim Thome is not a Hall of Fame player, is a fool. Anyone who says that he was a DH, shows their lack of intelligence. He only became a DH when he joined the White Sox, before that he was a 3B and 1B for the Indians and played 1B for the Phillies. He played 16 years in the field and was a good fielder. Was he a gold glove fielder? No. But bring all the cutesy and made up stats that people who never played the game created. He is a Hall of Famer and there's nothing your stats or even your opinions can do about that!

Let's see a cite for Barry Bonds testing positive for steroids.

And Aaron cheated and used drugs and illegal performance enhancing drugs and Mays did as well. And before you start frothing at the mouth and screeching CITE!!! CITE!!!, I am of course referring to the endemic use and abuse of 'greenies' ie; 'uppers' ie; speed by every player in the major leagues for well over 50 years.

And despite all of your inane bleats and outright lies in your post perhaps your worst one is the whole

He (Jim Thome) is a Hall of Famer

.

No he isn't, as he hasn't been elected yet.

Of course he hasn't been elected, he's still playing.

[The_Admiral]

This would be what I would call the debatable section of guys. Some may put Thome ahead, some may not. Some I think are better then Thome, some I don't.

Jason Kendall

There is no alternate universe where people are debating Jim Thome vis-a-vis Jason Kendall.

[pmoehrin]

As for the strikeouts, his 162 game average is 162 (a bit different from 162 per year), which is exceedingly high vs. other HOF sluggers. The strikeout is not nearly as shameful as it used to be in previous eras, but I guess his rate of striking out may be unprecedented territory for voters.

That's the biggest drawback at the plate for me.

He leads the league in strikeouts three times, and I believe is second on the all-time list. He's also only top ten in RBI's three times which is one the lowest amounts of top tens that I have ever seen for a slugger.

The more I look at his numbers the more and more I see a walking contradiction. He bats about .400 when he puts the ball in play, and is he is not a speedster so he's hitting that ball hard every time, but is never top ten in sac flies for any year. Top ten in OPS ten times, yet never top ten in doubles though again for any year. Just weird stuff that I haven't seen with any other player.

[McCall]

How many other players have hit 600 home runs without steroids? Enough said. First ballot Hall of Famer. Was he the best of his era? No. Was he one of the best? Well only Aaron, Ruth, Mays, and Griffey, Jr. have hit 600 home runs without steroids. I'm sorry anyone who thinks Jim Thome is not a Hall of Fame player, is a fool. Anyone who says that he was a DH, shows their lack of intelligence. He only became a DH when he joined the White Sox, before that he was a 3B and 1B for the Indians and played 1B for the Phillies. He played 16 years in the field and was a good fielder. Was he a gold glove fielder? No. But bring all the cutesy and made up stats that people who never played the game created. He is a Hall of Famer and there's nothing your stats or even your opinions can do about that!

Let's see a cite for Barry Bonds testing positive for steroids.

And Aaron cheated and used drugs and illegal performance enhancing drugs and Mays did as well. And before you start frothing at the mouth and screeching CITE!!! CITE!!!, I am of course referring to the endemic use and abuse of 'greenies' ie; 'uppers' ie; speed by every player in the major leagues for well over 50 years.

And despite all of your inane bleats and outright lies in your post perhaps your worst one is the whole

He (Jim Thome) is a Hall of Famer

.

No he isn't, as he hasn't been elected yet.

Sometimes, I actually miss patsox. I blame you for that.

[DuckFats]

How many other players have hit 600 home runs without steroids? Enough said. First ballot Hall of Famer. Was he the best of his era? No. Was he one of the best? Well only Aaron, Ruth, Mays, and Griffey, Jr. have hit 600 home runs without steroids. I'm sorry anyone who thinks Jim Thome is not a Hall of Fame player, is a fool. Anyone who says that he was a DH, shows their lack of intelligence. He only became a DH when he joined the White Sox, before that he was a 3B and 1B for the Indians and played 1B for the Phillies. He played 16 years in the field and was a good fielder. Was he a gold glove fielder? No. But bring all the cutesy and made up stats that people who never played the game created. He is a Hall of Famer and there's nothing your stats or even your opinions can do about that!

Let's see a cite for Barry Bonds testing positive for steroids.

And Aaron cheated and used drugs and illegal performance enhancing drugs and Mays did as well. And before you start frothing at the mouth and screeching CITE!!! CITE!!!, I am of course referring to the endemic use and abuse of 'greenies' ie; 'uppers' ie; speed by every player in the major leagues for well over 50 years.

And despite all of your inane bleats and outright lies in your post perhaps your worst one is the whole

He (Jim Thome) is a Hall of Famer

.

No he isn't, as he hasn't been elected yet.

Of course he hasn't been elected, he's still playing.

Then you can't say that he is a Hall of Famer since he hasn't been elected. You can't get from A (playing mlb) to C (being a Hall of Famer) without going through B (being nominated and then elected to the Hall of Fame).

[The_Admiral]

Oh my god are we so remedial that we have to explain that when active players are called Hall of Famers it is a shorthand for "highly likely to be a Hall of Famer upon his retirement and five-year waiting period"?

[OnWis97]

Oh my god are we so remedial that we have to explain that when active players are called Hall of Famers it is a shorthand for "highly likely to be a Hall of Famer upon his retirement and five-year waiting period"?

It would seem so. Anyone who says "Peyton Manning is a hall of famer" shall be branded a liar and tarred and feathered.

[oddball]

How many other players have hit 600 home runs without steroids? Enough said. First ballot Hall of Famer. Was he the best of his era? No. Was he one of the best? Well only Aaron, Ruth, Mays, and Griffey, Jr. have hit 600 home runs without steroids. I'm sorry anyone who thinks Jim Thome is not a Hall of Fame player, is a fool. Anyone who says that he was a DH, shows their lack of intelligence. He only became a DH when he joined the White Sox, before that he was a 3B and 1B for the Indians and played 1B for the Phillies. He played 16 years in the field and was a good fielder. Was he a gold glove fielder? No. But bring all the cutesy and made up stats that people who never played the game created. He is a Hall of Famer and there's nothing your stats or even your opinions can do about that!

Let's see a cite for Barry Bonds testing positive for steroids.

And Aaron cheated and used drugs and illegal performance enhancing drugs and Mays did as well. And before you start frothing at the mouth and screeching CITE!!! CITE!!!, I am of course referring to the endemic use and abuse of 'greenies' ie; 'uppers' ie; speed by every player in the major leagues for well over 50 years.

And despite all of your inane bleats and outright lies in your post perhaps your worst one is the whole

He (Jim Thome) is a Hall of Famer

.

No he isn't, as he hasn't been elected yet.

I don't disagree with you on the uppers and all the drugs used prior. Yet, that doesn't change the fact that Jim Thome is a Hall of Famer whether or not he's actually in the Hall of Fame. So it's not a lie, it's an opinion.