Make no mistake.....Frank Thomas is the.....

gecko109 · July 20, 2009 11:28PM

Absolute best right handed hitter baseball has ever seen. Hands down, no argument.

jackstraw · July 20, 2009 11:30PM

Hank Aaron just called and said you were nuts.............

WinPitcher · July 20, 2009 11:34PM

Willie Mays called too.

Steve

markj111 · July 20, 2009 11:37PM

He was a great one, but that is as far as I will go.

BunchOBull · July 20, 2009 11:37PM

I never know if these threads are to call me out or not.

I certainly say he's top 10. Maybe top 5. A few less injuries in the last years and he'd be much more respected.

slantycouch · July 20, 2009 11:38PM

The white guy that played in the 1950s?

DavidPuddy · July 20, 2009 11:39PM

RonBurgundy · July 20, 2009 11:41PM

Easy on the crack pipe this early in the morning.

WinPitcher · July 20, 2009 11:44PM

Frank Thomas is not in the top 10 all time.

He is in the top 2 or 3 of his generation though.

Only Bonds and maybe Griffey and Ramirez are above him.

I'd take him over A Rod

Of course this is only my opinion.

Others will differ.

Steve

Robb · July 20, 2009 11:45PM

The Big Skirt at number 1?!? LOL!

gecko109 · July 20, 2009 11:46PM

Aaron:

1 HR every 4th game
OBA: .374
SLG: .555
AVG: .305

Thomas:

1 HR every 4th game
OBA: .419!!!
SLG: .555
AVG: .301

Startingly similar numbers between the 2 greats. However, I give the Big Hurt the nod due to his back to back MVP seasons versus Aaron's lone MVP season.

bighurt2000 · July 20, 2009 11:46PM

If Thomas used steriods like the rest of them he would have had over 800 hr's and still be playing.

James

gecko109 · July 20, 2009 11:47PM

<< Frank Thomas is not in the top 10 all time.

He is in the top 2 or 3 of his generation though.

Only Bonds and maybe Griffey and Ramirez are above him.

I'd take him over A Rod

Of course this is only my opinion.

Others will differ.

Steve >>

Take Griffey out....the post is about right handed hitters.

gecko109 · July 20, 2009 11:48PM

<< If Thomas used steriods like the rest of them he would have had over 800 hr's and still be playing.

James >>

Lotta truth in that statement. Even in the era of mass steroid usage, a CLEAN Thomas was still able to dominate the sport for many years.

WinPitcher · July 20, 2009 11:50PM

My post was in general, so if you include all players he is in the top 5 of his generation.

Steve

gameusedhoop · July 20, 2009 11:53PM

Lower mound in Thomas' era. Not pitcher dominated like the 50s and 60s. Aaron wins.

gecko109 · July 20, 2009 11:54PM

<< My post was in general, so if you include all players he is in the top 5 of his generation.

Steve >>

Tough call to make, only because so many players were juicing. If you exclude the roiders, you get 3 men who are the greatest players of our generation (1990-2000). I'd take Griffey in his prime over Thomas in his prime, BARELY. But if I was starting my own team and had to pick among the players of our generation (who werent on roids), its Randy all the way!

WinPitcher · July 20, 2009 11:55PM

How does he compare to Willie Mays? Who, by the way Aaron claims was better.

Steve

MrVintage · July 20, 2009 11:55PM

Those are impressive numbers for Big Frank, but there is no way that he is the best hitter of all-time.

BunchOBull · July 20, 2009 11:57PM

I'm not going to take the time to look at stats, especially things that aren't calculated regularly like HRs, doubles, singles per plate appearance, but Thomas at a minimum hangs with the "greats." His OB%, OPS, and Slugging % show that. His strength is the depth of his hitting, from things like sac flies, clutch hitting, to the regularly recorded statistics. When the man was healthy enough to be at the plate, he hurt the opposing pitching.

As for MVPs, he was runner up in a year that Giambi admittedly was juicing while he won.

bighurt2000 · July 21, 2009 12:00AM

WinPitcher · July 21, 2009 12:11AM

I agree he does hang with the greats, he just ain't the greatest.

Steve

bighurt2000 · July 21, 2009 12:12AM

BunchOBull · July 21, 2009 12:15AM

<< I agree he does hang with the greats, he just ain't the greatest.

Steve >>

Then we are in agreeance.

bighurt2000 · July 21, 2009 12:17AM

frankhardy · July 21, 2009 12:19AM

Oh, never mind.

bighurt2000 · July 21, 2009 12:22AM

Shane SPEAK???????

burke23 · July 21, 2009 12:27AM

Pujols is righty last I checked. Its him or Manny.

frankhardy · July 21, 2009 12:29AM

I just love how people try to "out-think the room" by totally leaving out of the conversation a right handed hitter who is the only person the history of baseball to hit over .300, 30 hr, & 100 RBI's in his first TWO SEASONS. This hitter has extended that record to his first 8 season, and with 10 more RBI's, it will be 9 seasons.

I'll not even mention his name because all I will hear is "Oh, great! Here comes his supporters!" And all I ever want is a meaningful, intelligent discussion.

baseballfan · July 21, 2009 12:32AM

<< Aaron:

1 HR every 4th game
OBA: .374
SLG: .555
AVG: .305

Thomas:

1 HR every 4th game
OBA: .419!!!
SLG: .555
AVG: .301

Startingly similar numbers between the 2 greats. However, I give the Big Hurt the nod due to his back to back MVP seasons versus Aaron's lone MVP season. >>

i was going to do work today but...

aaron
HR 755
RBI 2297
Hits 3771
sb 240

thomas
HR 521
RBI 1704
Hits 2468
SB 32

aaron did all this playing under extreme circumstances in bigger parks. and by the way as he was hitting 755 HR he stole 240 bases and had almost 3800 hits, thats a lot of hits, i don't care who you are. 1 MVP in an era with players like mays-banks-koufax-f. robinson- clemente is pretty good. thomas was a great hitter but i think i go with aaron. and i go with arron over a lot of guys right or left. he was a great productive hitter.

i will also add lets see what pujols continues to do and then we take him when he's finished, it wouldn't be fair to compare when he's not finished yet. i remember talking to a red sox fan about 6-7 years ago who said nomar was a slam dunk HOFer.

frankhardy · July 21, 2009 12:35AM

By the way, I think Hank Aaron is the greatest, right now.

bighurt2000 · July 21, 2009 12:44AM

Shane,
I to like Pujols he is a great hitter the one thing I like about Thomas over Pujols is his batting eye Thomas
was putting up 100 walk seasons his first full year it took Pujols 8 full season to get a hundred walk season
and with all the IBB he reseved those years and still did get 100 walks?

Now I think Pujols is a complete hitter.

James

itzagoner · July 21, 2009 12:50AM

Bill Madlock.

now everybody go to your room.

baseballfan · July 21, 2009 1:05AM

madlock was a great hitter

arron
2B-624
3B-98
200+ hits 3 times
191+ hits 7 times

thomas
2B- 495
3B-12
200+ hits none
191+ once

this schoked me that he never had 200+ hits in a year.

i love looking at stats

gecko109 · July 21, 2009 1:06AM

<< 

<< Aaron:

1 HR every 4th game
OBA: .374
SLG: .555
AVG: .305

Thomas:

1 HR every 4th game
OBA: .419!!!
SLG: .555
AVG: .301

Startingly similar numbers between the 2 greats. However, I give the Big Hurt the nod due to his back to back MVP seasons versus Aaron's lone MVP season. >>

i was going to do work today but...

aaron
HR 755
RBI 2297
Hits 3771
sb 240

thomas
HR 521
RBI 1704
Hits 2468
SB 32

aaron did all this playing under extreme circumstances in bigger parks. and by the way as he was hitting 755 HR he stole 240 bases and had almost 3800 hits, thats a lot of hits, i don't care who you are. 1 MVP in an era with players like mays-banks-koufax-f. robinson- clemente is pretty good. thomas was a great hitter but i think i go with aaron. and i go with arron over a lot of guys right or left. he was a great productive hitter.

i will also add lets see what pujols continues to do and then we take him when he's finished, it wouldn't be fair to compare when he's not finished yet. i remember talking to a red sox fan about 6-7 years ago who said nomar was a slam dunk HOFer. >>

Dont neglect to mention that Aaron's career totals are for 23 seasons....Thomas did just 19, and a few of those were injury ridden at that.

burke23 · July 21, 2009 1:23AM

Aaron > Thomas - he did it for a longer period of time, and he did it playing the OF - much more demanding than 1b/DH. Pujols can crack #1 if he ages well (is he really not even 30?). Manny kind of hurt his shot at this title with the suspension for roids.

gemint · July 21, 2009 1:24AM

I think a better debate would be to ask if Thomas is HOF worthy. In my opinion the steroid era is tainted and those players can never be adequately compared to prior generations.

WinPitcher · July 21, 2009 1:29AM

Yeah I would say he is HOF worthy.

As for 30 100 300

DiMaggio missed that by 1 hr his rookie season and did it I think 7 or 8 straight seasons.

Steve

frankhardy · July 21, 2009 1:39AM

<< Yeah I would say he is HOF worthy.

As for 30 100 300

DiMaggio missed that by 1 hr his rookie season and did it I think 7 or 8 straight seasons.

Steve >>

He did it for 5 years after his rookie year. I did not realize how close he came to that.

hammered · July 21, 2009 1:41AM

Modern era:
1) Manny
2) A-Rod
3) Thomas
4) Pujols

All-time
1) Willie Mays
2) Hank Aaron
3) Rogers Hornsby
4) Mike Schmidt
5) Joe DiMaggio
6) Frank Robinson

ripkenintheminors · July 21, 2009 1:42AM

<< Aaron:

1 HR every 4th game
OBA: .374
SLG: .555
AVG: .305

Thomas:

1 HR every 4th game
OBA: .419!!!
SLG: .555
AVG: .301

Startingly similar numbers between the 2 greats. However, I give the Big Hurt the nod due to his back to back MVP seasons versus Aaron's lone MVP season. >>

Not a fan of sample size are you? Thomas has had over 4K fewer ABs in his career and you can't assume that he would continue that pace over those 4K ABs.

Bottom9th · July 21, 2009 3:05AM

<< Easy on the crack pipe this early in the morning. >>

Took the words right off my keyboard!

che · July 21, 2009 3:45AM

Frank Thomas also invested in a college career at Auburn (aaron went straight to Negro League and pro ball), was a first round draft pick in the MLB, and played dual sports in college (football, bs). With those things in mind, Aaron could have a longer baseball career and hence more opportunity to rack up the digits. I believe Thomas was feared more by both pitchers and managers than Aaron was. The poor guy (Thomas) was intentionally walked like crazy. Back in Aaron's day, did baseball even have intentional walking?

thunderpower · July 21, 2009 6:22AM

Lots of great names there! You think you have the list then another name is added. I am too young to have seen most of those greats play but I think Aaron is the one. As for active players that's a really tough one. A-rod is pretty impressive but Manny sure does rake that ball too. Tough choices.

gemint · July 21, 2009 6:31AM

<< Back in Aaron's day, did baseball even have intentional walking?

>>

Yes, The Babe was intentially walked many times. I think Ted Williams also was IBB a lot!

Nathaniel1960 · July 21, 2009 6:57AM

Lunacy. Mediocre AND inflated stats = above-average power hitter, and that's all. He couldn't hold Aaron's jock, not that he'd want to.

Ahzzy · July 21, 2009 7:03AM

<< Back in Aaron's day, did baseball even have intentional walking?

>>

Yes but back then it only took 1 pitch.

BunchOBull · July 21, 2009 7:17AM

<< Lunacy. Mediocre AND inflated stats = above-average power hitter, and that's all. >>

This is an incorrect statement.

JackWESQ · July 21, 2009 7:34AM

Frank Thomas is great. But off the top of my head, I would rank Rogers Hornsby and Jimmie Foxx ahead of him. And probably Hank Greenberg as well.

/s/ JackWESQ

BunchOBull · July 21, 2009 7:42AM

That's very possible, in as hard as it is to compare modern players to post-war guys, it's certainly hard to compare them to pre-war players.

What I meant by "incorrect" statement in my post above is that his stats were far from inflated. He carried little to no protection in the lineup during his prime and still found a way to get on base, drive in, and score runs.

grote15 · July 21, 2009 8:59AM

No offense, but anyone who believes that Frank Thomas is better than Aaron knows absolutely nothing about baseball. First and foremost, Aaron played during an era when pitchers dominated (before the lowering of the mound after Bob Gibso's 1.12 ERA in 1968), and in parks that were far more difficult to hit in than today's bandboxes. Add expansion and the addition of squads of mediocre pitchers who wouldn't have even made ther majors back during Aaron's era, and it's ridiculous to think that Thomas is close to being better than Aaron all-time, as good a player as he is. Or do you think Sammy Sosa is right up there, too, LOL??

Edit to add: Aaron also was a three-time Gold Glove award winner, too..

Make no mistake.....Frank Thomas is the.....

Comments