Frank Thomas retiring

[Sports Guy]

He is going to officially retire tomorrow.

For me, he is one of the best hitters I have ever seen, especially amongst righties.

Now, he has little to no defensive value....So, is there any doubt he is a first ballot HOFer?

To me, its not even a question...he should absolutely get in on his first ballot.

[Moose Milligan]

He should get in.

Not to derail, but Edgar Martinez should be in...the stupid writers will elect Thomas and not elect Edgar despite voting Thomas in for the very reason they won't elect Edgar.

No defensive value, so what? He was a monster.

[Tony-OH]

He is going to officially retire tomorrow.

For me, he is one of the best hitters I have ever seen, especially amongst righties.

Now, he has little to no defensive value....So, is there any doubt he is a first ballot HOFer?

To me, its not even a question...he should absolutely get in on his first ballot.

He probably won't get in on the first ballot because the press didn't really like him much and he had no defensive value. He'll get in eventually though.

[ScottieBaseball]

Frank Thomas' retirement might bring Mike Mussina out of retirement. The Big Hurt pwned the Moose.

EDIT: WAIT!!! Almost forgot...My buddy T-Jay and I had beers at Rodo's in Fell's Point with Frank Thomas on a Thursday night. The Sox were opening a 3-game series with the O's the next day. I don't know what he was like to the press but he was a nice guy to us. He even picked up our tab (we found out when we went to close out for the night).

[Boy Howdy]

I agree with the take of a poster on another baseball website who opined that writers will be falling over themselves to vote the Big Hurt in on the first ballot due to his outspoken anti-steroids stance.

Fantastic hitter, but my enduring memory of him stems from a rainy day at Memorial Stadium when the gates hadn't opened yet and he was milling around the corridors in full uniform. The phrase 'bigger than life' came to mind.

[ShaneDawg85]

He definitely should be in on the first ballot, but mostly for reasons already highlighted, I'm skeptical that he would. He was not a good defensive player, spent a large chunk of his career at DH, and although his popularity and appeal in the game was undeniable, he wasn't the most popular guy in some circles. Not to say that is a total barometer for getting in the hall, but in some cases it is, and I fear that might be just enough to keep him off the first ballot. Even though he has been anit-steroids in tone, I also have to believe that the stigma is going to be around Thomas on this one. I don't believe that he did, but I'm sure some writers out there do, or they are just going to be self-righteous and deny their vote on the first ballot, even though they really do believe he's hall worthy, just to send a "message" abou the era.

My personal memories of Thomas, beyond him throughly destroying the Orioles during his career, was that he was an autograph machine. He would get mobbed every time he'd come over to sign, but he would stand there for quite a while and keep signing away. Some superstars won't so much as look at you. Frank Thomas, on the other hand, was out there quite often. I could appreciate him for that.

[Moose Milligan]

A great day at Cooperstown would to see Thomas and Griffey being inducted on the same day. Shame Thomas can't hang on for this last season so they can go in together. I think he's a first ballot guy.

[mweb]

He should get in.

Not to derail, but Edgar Martinez should be in...the stupid writers will elect Thomas and not elect Edgar despite voting Thomas in for the very reason they won't elect Edgar.

No defensive value, so what? He was a monster.

Well Frank did play 1B for a decent amount of his career (although not well), so that helps in the mind of the voters imo. However, other than that, he was quite a bit better than Edgar. 2 MVP's, 9 points better on OPS+, 1,400 more plate appearances, 212 more hr's, 443 more RBI, and a 21.3 WARP3 advantage.

So not very comparable other than them both being great hitters with little to no defensive value.

[mweb]

A great day at Cooperstown would to see Thomas and Griffey being inducted on the same day. Shame Thomas can't hang on for this last season so they can go in together. I think he's a first ballot guy.

Yeah, the two most popular players in the game for awhile. I remember when the Griffey '89 Upper Deck and the Thomas '90 leaf were the two hottest cards out there.

Thomas was actually my favorite player.

[Moose Milligan]

Well Frank did play 1B for a decent amount of his career (although not well), so that helps in the mind of the voters imo. However, other than that, he was quite a bit better than Edgar. 2 MVP's, 9 points better on OPS+, 1,400 more plate appearances, 212 more hr's, 443 more RBI, and a 21.3 WARP3 advantage.

So not very comparable other than them both being great hitters with little to no defensive value.

Well if he had 1,400 more plate appearances I'd hope that he'd have significantly better numbers

[DrungoHazewood]

If he's not a first ballot HOFer, well... then the writers will be living down to my almost nonexistent expectations of them. There was a time about 10 years ago when the talk of who was the best hitter of all time came down to Ruth, Williams, and maybe Frank Thomas. The back end of his career wasn't up to that level, but his peak was massive.

43rd in all time WAR. If your Hall is too small for Frank Thomas, it's too small for Johnny Bench, Tony Gwynn, and Brooks Robinson.

[DuffMan]

Frank Thomas' retirement might bring Mike Mussina out of retirement. The Big Hurt pwned the Moose.

Seriously, was there ever a game when the Big Hurt didn't bag himself a Moose. I'm too lazy to look up his numbers versus Moose, but I remember them being of the video game variety.

[Frobby]

Let's see, a two time MVP who was in the top 5 for MVP six times, who had as many HR as Ted Williams and a .300 lifetime BA? Oh yeah, he's in on the first ballot, easily. You don't even need to get into the exotic stats to see how great a hitter he was.

[DrungoHazewood]

Seriously, was there ever a game when the Big Hurt didn't bag himself a Moose. I'm too lazy to look up his numbers versus Moose, but I remember them being of the video game variety.

Pitcher           AB   H  2B  3B  HR  BB IBB  SO HBP  SH  SF   AVG   OBP   SLGMike Mussina      82  30   9   0   9  13   0  15   1   0   0  .366  .458  .805

Yea, he pretty much owned Mussina.

[Moose Milligan]

Seriously, was there ever a game when the Big Hurt didn't bag himself a Moose. I'm too lazy to look up his numbers versus Moose, but I remember them being of the video game variety.

82 at bats, .366/.458/.805/1.263 9 homers, 9 doubles, 21 rbi

He faced Mussina the most over his career, 96 plate appearances.