Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx can all lay claim to this distinction, but it is indeed, a very rare club to be a part of. Lou Gehrig fell just 7 homers shy of this club.
@@riltalk4055 Bagwell was better.. produced almost identical numbers and was plus plus at everything else.. I once saw Bagwell steal home to walk it off.. lol..
He had SEVEN straight seasons of .300 BA, 100 H's, 100 R's, 100 RBI's, 100 BB's, 20 HR's. No one else has more than three. Not to mention he was #1 on Beckett's Hot List for 34 straight months!
That he managed 100 BB, 100 R, and 100 RBIs in the strike-shortened 1994 still blows my mind. A lot of players were putting up insane numbers that year, so a lot of "what if?" stories from that year.
Walt Reniak was the Sox hitting coach and taught that form. A lot of Sox players during those years had that form (Robin Ventura comes to mind with a swing that was obvious with the back foot like Thomas').
born in the suburbs of Chicago and now living in indiana...frank thomas was and still is my all time fav baseball player. he was Albert pujols before AP had the spotlight. only difference was there wasn't the platforms, media coverage, streaming that the players of today have the luxury of having. ONLY PLAYER IN HISTORY to have 7 consecutive seasons of .300 ba, 20 hrs, 100 rbi, 100 runs, 100 walks. and he did it clean. met him 3 times once at the ball game, once at a sports convention, and once promoting his Big Hurt Beer. had 2 rookie cards and a baseball signed by him. the last time I said the only thing besides thx for the memories I could to respect his greatness. I said "thanks for doing it CLEANLY for all those years." he responded "thx for being there."
I think I was at his 3 homerun game. I was a Lil kiddo. So I'm probably wrong. He is awesome. I love Frank ventura Lance one dog. Awesome team to grow up with
@Stretch213 great memories weren't they?! the players u mentioned...Blackjack McDowell. Bo. Wilson Alvarez. Alex Fernandez. Karkovice. Cora. Burks. Raines. Roberto Hernandez. these names just flow into my memory. 1993-1994 White Sox were my best times to watch White Sox baseball. besides for 2005 of course...oh how we have fallen. thx for the reply tho! Be Well
This is one of those videos you didn’t intend to watch, only to discover you’ve been glued to the screen for the last 20 minutes. They’re the perfect combination of stats & nostalgia. Well done. 👏
Frank Thomas actually should have won the MVP in 2000, an amazing talent. Can’t believe you had all those college baseball footage at Auburn. Great piece. When you see these guys who dominate in college and pro it’s special.
Well I would say that Oakland and the White Sox did win their respective divisions. With Giambi (I don't care if he was clean, but he wasn't), but Thomas had more hits, runs, rbis, and had the same number of hrs. Thomas's averages were slightly below, but pretty much in the same ball park. Yea, Arod had a great year as well with the Mariners making the playoffs too. I'm still taking Thomas because he led the Sox to a better record than the A's and Mariners.
@@jmcfan11 I assume you meant Cal Ripken's 1991 year in which the Orioles finished 6th. Hey man listen it depends on how the voters feel. I mean I know the history of the MVP and guys who won the award while their team was in last place, like Andre Dawson in 1987, when the award could have went to Gwynn or Smith. But the voters are the ones that switch it up and feel that a player is valuable to a team that finishes 1st (or better record) over someone who had better numbers as a hitter. So let's take Ted Williams (to use your hitter (little defense) argument. Ted Williams (best hitter in baseball), the voters gave the MVP award to DiMaggio in 1941 and 1947, and also 1942 to Joe Gordon, while Ted Williams finished 2nd in voting those years. Why? Well because the Yankees (team record) success was the factor in their decision. DiMaggio was a better overall player but not hitter. Again, they switch it up whenever they want to. It's not my criteria that they switch up on. Why do they give Juan Gonzalez the MVP in 1996 over Griffey or A-Rod, well it wasn't because of WAR, it's because the Rangers finished 1st that year or had better team success. Why do they switch it up and give Maury Wills the MVP instead of Willie Mays in 1962 who had better overall numbers and his team finished above the Dodgers. ??? As far as the 2000 A's, Giambi wasn't alone either just like Thomas wasn't alone on the Sox. Miguel Tejada who won the MVP two years later was on that team, and they had 5 players who hit over 20 home runs on that team and 6 guys that had over 80 rbis, while they also had pretty good pitching.
@@jmcfan11 Yes, I meant Ozzie Smith who finished 2nd that year. Or even Jack Clark, I mean the Cardinals went to the series that year. But then again that's that team success. So since Ripken won the MVP in 91 while his team finished 6th, should Dawson have won the MVP for his team that finished 6th also? I know Ripken had the highest WAR and defensive WAR (WAR aint everything). At least the voters were consistent. I just feel that the team has to have some success. In other team sports almost always the the MVP gets their team to the playoffs. I know MLB is different, just saying.
In over 40 years of being an enthusiastic baseball fan who also played organized baseball and softball, I never saw a better hitter than Frank Thomas. Keep in mind that he never took steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. He was robbed of at least a couple more MVP awards by players who were NOT clean. Thomas was a great, natural talent who made the most of what he had. The cheaters and prima donnas eventually took all the joy out of watching the game for me. Thanks for the memories, Frank.
i keep remembering an all-star game interview he gave with Barry Bonds in the mid 90's where Barry complained about being looked up to as a role model and Frank made his thoughts known. He un-apologetically said that he felt that because kids looked up to pro athletes they had a responsibility to act like a role model and made Barry look like the selfish mofo he always was. class act. the Big Hurt is my favorite player of the 90s.
My favorite class act moment by Frank Thomas is during the lowest point in his career mentioned in 13:42 , the injury came from a ground ball hit towards him by none other than a Rookie Ichiro Suzuki. Frank tells this story in a video called "Ichiro Suzuki gave Frank Thomas the worst injury he's ever had" and despite this being probably the darkest time in his life, Frank puts it aside to tell the story of how great Ichiro is.
And it's because of how jelly Barry got from all the attention Griffey/Thomas and later Mike/Sooser (as Ted Kennedy called them) that caused Barry to turn to the dark side ('roids) on top of his narcissistic angry 'tude.
Charles Barkley would agree with Barry Bonds. It’s your job as a parent. A brother. An uncle. A close cousin to be a role model to the youth within your zone of influence
The Big Hurt my favorite baseball player of all time. Most of his baseball cards were always worth more than Griffey Jr's. Had his Rebooks as well. THE BIG HURT!
I got to see him play a bunch in Oakland in 06. Had his jersey too. Biggest man I’ve ever seen in person, and he absolutely crushed the ball. I remember him hitting a line drive foul ball 2 rows in front of me so hard that the guys sitting in the seats literally jumped out of the way.
I knew he had a great 1990's but had no idea how good he was in the 2000's. He easily deserves to be in the same conversation as Pujols and Miguel Cabrera. And close to Aaron and Mays.
and lastly Frank deserved that ring and I don't think anyone would dispute that. I just wish that he could have gotten to play in that magical run in 05....
Having 500 HR and a lifetime .300 BA is pretty damn impressive. My jaw dropped every time you brought up his OPS+; being not only above average but decisively above average for that many years is to be applauded
Your comment perfectly explains why Frank might be my favorite hitter I've discussed in a video of this nature. His patience, power, and career stat line is crazy. A career 156 OPS+?!😳
The best batting eye I've ever seen from a RH hitter. In his prime, you could not get him to chase out of the zone. And he crushed almost everything within the zone.
@@axe2grind244 I agree. I was definitely going to add Manny into this conversation! He always had a weird bored expression on his face at the plate but he rarely chased anything and could hit to all fields with ease!
The big hurt was a huge part of my childhood. My dad and I would watch the Whitesox every night on WGN. We went to see him in Sarasota one year for spring training, I got a ball and his O-Pee-Chee rookie card signed. They say don't meet your heros - bullshit, Frank was everything and more. Nicest guy you could hope to meet. Thanks for all the memories Big Frank. 👊
Great video, the Big Hurt was terrifying, the guy looked like a linebacker. He also seems to have done it the right way since he was so publicly critical of steroid users. Another interesting topic might be Albert Belle. His prime was pretty insane.
Hands down my favorite player growing up. Thomas, Griffey, and Juan Gonzalez were my favorite power hitters in the 90's. No one talks about Gonzalez but it would be cool if you made a video on him as well.
Juan Gonzalez reminds me of Gary Sheffield. Arms the size of tanks and the lasers they hit out of the park. I wish they had exit velocity on both of them.
My top 3 first basemen of the 90's are Thomas, Grace and Olerud. They were on base machines with some power. Those 3 always seemed to walk more than they struck out. I always thought Thomas would squeek into the 3000 hits club but those injury seasons killed that. Loved watching his career
I’d love one on my personal favorite player of all time, Roy Halladay. Love the videos! New sub but love how deep you get into the videos. These players all deserve it.
Yeah, between him and Griffey Jr. and Chipper we were spoiled with gr8 dudes on top of ball players. And (I had to edit this) who loved “Rock” Raines leading off and Frank cleaning up, then you got Robin Ventura hitting in the 3 spot, Black Jack pitching, shut me down or I’ll name everyone to play on a 90s roster haha.
Thanks cam! Your killing with this series & all editing ya do for Fuzzy. Your a wizard! Keep up the great job. Creating & leaving your own legacy with these.... They outlive us all like those early sports docs imo
Your videos are filled with videos I haven't seen and include info I am too lazy to look up. Your channel has the look of something that will have a loyal group of followers for as long as your passion continues. I found you with the Kirby Puckett video, and have enjoyed since. Cheers!
Haven’t even watched it yet and I already know this is gold. My favorite player of all time. Have a bat that he signed hanging above my signed poster of Bo Jackson’s infamous shoulder pads and bat across his shoulders. Looking forward to checking this out!!!! Thanks, dude. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody. ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻
I’ll never forget the day I started liking baseball. It’s was in the 1994 home run derby in Pittsburgh (think that’s the right year). I saw what looked like a football player hit a 500+ foot homer lol. Been a big hurt fan ever since
Best hitter of the 90s. I watched him day in day out in..Chicago... he was unbelievable. His eye was so good and on par with anyone. To have those power numbers plus average. He would spray the ball everywhere.
If only Ichiro didn't come into the US when he was pushing 30. Even if he arrived five years before he would have broken almost every record and probably would have hit 500+ home runs even though he didn't (want to) hit for power.
I grew up with Frank, batted 3rd on the Peach league Lions. Frank of course batted clean up! Greatest dude you'll ever meet. I never saw a bad pitch because of who was behind me, and he never saw a good pitch because, well, he was a bad man even at 12! Still hit 10 Homer's in 20 games w horrible pitches to swing at. Was so glad to see him go to Cooperstown!
I was hoping he mentioned Mr. Baseball, (underrated movie) the rookie (Frank Thomas) made Jake Elliot (Tom Selleck) retire from the MLB, talk about a “Big Hurt” 😂
His overall baseball record is so groundbreaking and yet he’s considered underrated. That’s what many people say. I’d say he’s been deliberately forgotten because in the end he had better morale than the whole MLB organization
@@TiagoGomez-hb9tehe was the only baseball player to be interviewed about the steroids scandal and didn’t hold back on anything. He even volunteered to be drug tested every game so that everyone knew he was clean and played a fair game
Awesome video man. I greatly appreciate it being a Frank Thomas fan the crazy fact is that he's 0 for 11 facing Nolan Ryan. And that 93 team of the White Sox against that Toronto Blue Jays team that ended up winning the world series. He was walked 11 times in the series so he couldn't hurt the Blue Jays which was a smart move by them.
What a great, informative video of the Big Hurt! I appreciate your insights and for detailing his charity. Frank is the epitome of a man that’s been through the wringer and has consistently come out on top. Favorite player hands down!
He was my favorite player when I was growing up. I was lucky enough to meet him outside Busch Stadium before game 5 of the 2013 World Series and got to shake his hand.
Frank Thomas is up there with Eddie Murray and Frank Robinson for most underrated/overlooked superstars ever, due to just being consistently great. He was the best AL hitter in the 90's by a lot.
Great nickname, one of the best ever. #22 all-time in on-base percentage, #18 in OPS. One manager said if Frank came up with the bases loaded, he would intentionally walk him.
Prime Frank had one of the tightest strike zones I have ever seen. Pitchers had to make almost perfect pitches (in the zone!) to get him out because he didn't chase.
I never wish there was a baseball strike in 1994. It sucked because not only did Thomas have 38 home runs at time of the strike but he didn’t have the most home runs at the strikes beginning as that was held by Matt Williams with the San Francisco Giants.
Love these videos. Being from the u.k,although we can now watch games everyday we still dont get a lot of historical info so to hear about these greats is awesome.
That’s so great to hear! I love that baseball can bring us from all around the world to learn about the history of this amazing game together. Thank you for tuning in!
As a kid watching up I knew he was a monster of a player but as an adult now his stats are insane. I remember rocking my big hurt Reebok batting gloves on little league. They say to never meet your hero’s, unless your hero is Frank Thomas. 1000% class act and humble person and deserved his spot in Cooperstown.
@@TiagoGomez-hb9te Frank was a dude who had insane power, but he was phenomenal at contact hitting. White Sox were just not that good offensively. He spent a lot of time going for the fences to get home runs and get his players across the plate. If Frank was just a lead-off hitter, for example, he’d have had a much higher career average and way less strikeouts
One of the greatest all around pure hitters I saw. MVP 2 years in a row. He was overshadowed by bonds, Griffey, piazza, Big Mac & Sammy. One special athlete
My favorite player of all time even as an Astros fan. Got to watch him live one time and it was during Wilson Alvarez pitching a no hitter against Baltimore. He hit a home run right in front of me. That went from dull summer break to the greatest of all time
Excellent work, as always! You've taught me so much. Maybe in like... 4th grade, I was briefly a bandwagon White Sox fan solely because of Mr. Thomas. He was a real life superhero. His average and walk numbers would be impressive for someone with 60 career homeruns. When it comes to someone as notorious as The Big Hurt, I am always immediately curious about the ratio of "earned" walks to intentional walks. A walk is a walk, and all the numbers count, but I appreciate them for different reasons. Right or wrong, if I am being honest I am happy to see the most egregious PED users left out of the HOF, but I don't find myself getting upset about Pudge and Bagwell getting in. Frank has a right to be upset about it. But I would argue that the guys missing the final cut of big league rosters each year were the ones hurt the most. Great video. Great ball player. I kinda wish he wasn't always trynna sell me supplements, but if Nutriflux was dropping thousand dollar bills in front of me, I'd pick'em up too.
It would be cool to see videos about Paul Molitor and Robin Yount. I saw Big Frank get in a fight with Dave Parker between a day night double header at Milwaukee County Stadium in the very early 90's. He was a great player, miss seeing him play.
Great video dawg never knew about frank because i’m 22 n from pittsburgh so baseball isn’t my first sport but the way you showcased big hurt was great keep it up man
I saw the title of this and wished it was about the ORIGINAL Frank Thomas... one of the nicest people I have ever met. Power hitter in the late 50's and early 60's... most famous for hitting 34 home runs as a member of the Original New York Mets in 1962. He passed away recently
I was a kid when the big hurt was in his prime. And I can confidently say that when we were kids, there were two players that everyone wanted to be like: the kid and the big hurt. I got to see frank play in 93’ against the tigers. If it weren’t for ken Griffey, this guy would’ve owned the baseball world in the 90’s. He’s 1 of 4 players I can proudly say I got to witness play the game. Cal Ripken, Ozzie smith, and Derek Jeter are the others.
500+ HR, 2k+ hits, more walks than strikeouts, and batting avg above .300. how many hitters can say that?
Craaaazy numbers
The real question is what would those numbers look like if he played 15K innings at 1st base, instead of being a DH for the majority of his career?..
Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx can all lay claim to this distinction, but it is indeed, a very rare club to be a part of.
Lou Gehrig fell just 7 homers shy of this club.
@@riltalk4055
Bagwell was better.. produced almost identical numbers and was plus plus at everything else.. I once saw Bagwell steal home to walk it off.. lol..
@@jacobjones5269 irrelevant
He had SEVEN straight seasons of .300 BA, 100 H's, 100 R's, 100 RBI's, 100 BB's, 20 HR's. No one else has more than three. Not to mention he was #1 on Beckett's Hot List for 34 straight months!
Thx 35# i lived 5 minutes from the park and i heard the fireworks going off all summer.
That he managed 100 BB, 100 R, and 100 RBIs in the strike-shortened 1994 still blows my mind. A lot of players were putting up insane numbers that year, so a lot of "what if?" stories from that year.
Crazy how much power he had with his back foot in the air as he made contact.
I forgot how how impressive his average numbers were.
yeah him and Edgar Martinez have a similar (but not identical) setup and follow through...
his power came more from his hips, you can see it in the swing
Walt Reniak was the Sox hitting coach and taught that form. A lot of Sox players during those years had that form (Robin Ventura comes to mind with a swing that was obvious with the back foot like Thomas').
That happens while a lot of players swing. You’d be surprised
born in the suburbs of Chicago and now living in indiana...frank thomas was and still is my all time fav baseball player. he was Albert pujols before AP had the spotlight. only difference was there wasn't the platforms, media coverage, streaming that the players of today have the luxury of having. ONLY PLAYER IN HISTORY to have 7 consecutive seasons of .300 ba, 20 hrs, 100 rbi, 100 runs, 100 walks. and he did it clean. met him 3 times once at the ball game, once at a sports convention, and once promoting his Big Hurt Beer. had 2 rookie cards and a baseball signed by him. the last time I said the only thing besides thx for the memories I could to respect his greatness. I said "thanks for doing it CLEANLY for all those years." he responded "thx for being there."
I think I was at his 3 homerun game. I was a Lil kiddo. So I'm probably wrong. He is awesome. I love Frank ventura Lance one dog. Awesome team to grow up with
@Stretch213 great memories weren't they?! the players u mentioned...Blackjack McDowell. Bo. Wilson Alvarez. Alex Fernandez. Karkovice. Cora. Burks. Raines. Roberto Hernandez. these names just flow into my memory. 1993-1994 White Sox were my best times to watch White Sox baseball. besides for 2005 of course...oh how we have fallen. thx for the reply tho! Be Well
a lot of respect for Frank Thomas. he was a consistently excellent
Great hitter. Even better person.
This is one of those videos you didn’t intend to watch, only to discover you’ve been glued to the screen for the last 20 minutes.
They’re the perfect combination of stats & nostalgia. Well done. 👏
Thank you for the kind words! That means a lot to hear, I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
Frank Thomas actually should have won the MVP in 2000, an amazing talent. Can’t believe you had all those college baseball footage at Auburn. Great piece. When you see these guys who dominate in college and pro it’s special.
Well I would say that Oakland and the White Sox did win their respective divisions. With Giambi (I don't care if he was clean, but he wasn't), but Thomas had more hits, runs, rbis, and had the same number of hrs. Thomas's averages were slightly below, but pretty much in the same ball park. Yea, Arod had a great year as well with the Mariners making the playoffs too. I'm still taking Thomas because he led the Sox to a better record than the A's and Mariners.
@@jmcfan11 Closest race ever at the time, and Giambi admitted to being on the juice.
2006 as well
@@jmcfan11 I assume you meant Cal Ripken's 1991 year in which the Orioles finished 6th. Hey man listen it depends on how the voters feel. I mean I know the history of the MVP and guys who won the award while their team was in last place, like Andre Dawson in 1987, when the award could have went to Gwynn or Smith. But the voters are the ones that switch it up and feel that a player is valuable to a team that finishes 1st (or better record) over someone who had better numbers as a hitter. So let's take Ted Williams (to use your hitter (little defense) argument. Ted Williams (best hitter in baseball), the voters gave the MVP award to DiMaggio in 1941 and 1947, and also 1942 to Joe Gordon, while Ted Williams finished 2nd in voting those years. Why? Well because the Yankees (team record) success was the factor in their decision. DiMaggio was a better overall player but not hitter. Again, they switch it up whenever they want to. It's not my criteria that they switch up on. Why do they give Juan Gonzalez the MVP in 1996 over Griffey or A-Rod, well it wasn't because of WAR, it's because the Rangers finished 1st that year or had better team success. Why do they switch it up and give Maury Wills the MVP instead of Willie Mays in 1962 who had better overall numbers and his team finished above the Dodgers. ???
As far as the 2000 A's, Giambi wasn't alone either just like Thomas wasn't alone on the Sox. Miguel Tejada who won the MVP two years later was on that team, and they had 5 players who hit over 20 home runs on that team and 6 guys that had over 80 rbis, while they also had pretty good pitching.
@@jmcfan11 Yes, I meant Ozzie Smith who finished 2nd that year. Or even Jack Clark, I mean the Cardinals went to the series that year. But then again that's that team success. So since Ripken won the MVP in 91 while his team finished 6th, should Dawson have won the MVP for his team that finished 6th also? I know Ripken had the highest WAR and defensive WAR (WAR aint everything). At least the voters were consistent. I just feel that the team has to have some success. In other team sports almost always the the MVP gets their team to the playoffs. I know MLB is different, just saying.
Holy hell that footage of him on his Auburn team shows he was absolutely massive even in his early years of baseball. Absolute unit of a man
I agree he was a massive guy.
would you touch it?
Ayo?
In over 40 years of being an enthusiastic baseball fan who also played organized baseball and softball, I never saw a better hitter than Frank Thomas. Keep in mind that he never took steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. He was robbed of at least a couple more MVP awards by players who were NOT clean. Thomas was a great, natural talent who made the most of what he had. The cheaters and prima donnas eventually took all the joy out of watching the game for me. Thanks for the memories, Frank.
You lost me when you said "organized softball" like that should make you someone I should listen too. LoL man 🤣🤣🤣
Him and Griffey! Bonds was my favorite player until he started juicing
@@humptydumpty1575😂😂😂
My favorite player growing up. THE BIG HURT ❤
Yes! Thomas and Griffey! Still have their cards somewhere.
He got the greatest nick name “The Big Hurt”
Mine as well, still is
i keep remembering an all-star game interview he gave with Barry Bonds in the mid 90's where Barry complained about being looked up to as a role model and Frank made his thoughts known. He un-apologetically said that he felt that because kids looked up to pro athletes they had a responsibility to act like a role model and made Barry look like the selfish mofo he always was. class act. the Big Hurt is my favorite player of the 90s.
Oof! 😂 thanks for sharing that story that’s wild. The Big Hurt for the win!
My favorite class act moment by Frank Thomas is during the lowest point in his career mentioned in 13:42 , the injury came from a ground ball hit towards him by none other than a Rookie Ichiro Suzuki. Frank tells this story in a video called "Ichiro Suzuki gave Frank Thomas the worst injury he's ever had" and despite this being probably the darkest time in his life, Frank puts it aside to tell the story of how great Ichiro is.
And it's because of how jelly Barry got from all the attention Griffey/Thomas and later Mike/Sooser (as Ted Kennedy called them) that caused Barry to turn to the dark side ('roids) on top of his narcissistic angry 'tude.
Charles Barkley would agree with Barry Bonds. It’s your job as a parent. A brother. An uncle. A close cousin to be a role model to the youth within your zone of influence
@@Trashman702and Charles Barkley could be a real stroke as well.
The fact that he did what he did in the era that he did it in makes his accomplishments even greater.
The Big Hurt my favorite baseball player of all time. Most of his baseball cards were always worth more than Griffey Jr's. Had his Rebooks as well. THE BIG HURT!
I got to see him play a bunch in Oakland in 06. Had his jersey too. Biggest man I’ve ever seen in person, and he absolutely crushed the ball. I remember him hitting a line drive foul ball 2 rows in front of me so hard that the guys sitting in the seats literally jumped out of the way.
I knew he had a great 1990's but had no idea how good he was in the 2000's.
He easily deserves to be in the same conversation as Pujols and Miguel Cabrera. And close to Aaron and Mays.
Close to Aaron and Mays 😂😂😂
and lastly Frank deserved that ring and I don't think anyone would dispute that. I just wish that he could have gotten to play in that magical run in 05....
It’s a shame he missed the World Series but you’re right he deserved that ring 💯
yea idk why they didnt just let him play he was DH anyways at that point
Yes idk why they didn't just let him hit he could have limped to first
Having 500 HR and a lifetime .300 BA is pretty damn impressive. My jaw dropped every time you brought up his OPS+; being not only above average but decisively above average for that many years is to be applauded
Your comment perfectly explains why Frank might be my favorite hitter I've discussed in a video of this nature. His patience, power, and career stat line is crazy. A career 156 OPS+?!😳
Loved this video. Watching baseball in the 90’s as a teen, Frank Thomas was one of my favorites. Always loved imitating his batting stance.
He has a cool batting stance that’s for sure!
@@Cam23 you should do a video on Juan Gonzalez!!!!
@@alcidesrios7222 great suggestion! 157 RBI in ‘98 is wild 😳
@@Cam23 yes. He may have been roided up who knows but did the have three straight 40+ HR’s
The best batting eye I've ever seen from a RH hitter.
In his prime, you could not get him to chase out of the zone. And he crushed almost everything within the zone.
People think I'm crazy, but, I think he'd do better today with a more consistent strike zone.
Hmm, Pujols?
As far as modern players I'd say it's between him, Pujols, and Edgar Martinez.
@@Garrett1240Frank Thomas, Manny and Al Pujols. Those are the best rh hitters I’ve ever seen.
@@axe2grind244 I agree. I was definitely going to add Manny into this conversation! He always had a weird bored expression on his face at the plate but he rarely chased anything and could hit to all fields with ease!
The big hurt was a huge part of my childhood. My dad and I would watch the Whitesox every night on WGN. We went to see him in Sarasota one year for spring training, I got a ball and his O-Pee-Chee rookie card signed. They say don't meet your heros - bullshit, Frank was everything and more. Nicest guy you could hope to meet. Thanks for all the memories Big Frank. 👊
Great video, the Big Hurt was terrifying, the guy looked like a linebacker. He also seems to have done it the right way since he was so publicly critical of steroid users.
Another interesting topic might be Albert Belle. His prime was pretty insane.
Love the show! Hope to see a video on the Hawk, Andre Dawson. Keep up the great work!
Hands down my favorite player growing up. Thomas, Griffey, and Juan Gonzalez were my favorite power hitters in the 90's. No one talks about Gonzalez but it would be cool if you made a video on him as well.
Juan Gonzalez reminds me of Gary Sheffield. Arms the size of tanks and the lasers they hit out of the park. I wish they had exit velocity on both of them.
He got caught up in the steroid era along with some good hitters thats y they dont speak on him
My all-time favorite ballplayer. I had Frank Thomas posters all over my wall as a young kid in Chicago. Thank you so much for this video!
It was a thrill to learn about The Big Hurt and make this video, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
My top 3 first basemen of the 90's are Thomas, Grace and Olerud. They were on base machines with some power. Those 3 always seemed to walk more than they struck out. I always thought Thomas would squeek into the 3000 hits club but those injury seasons killed that. Loved watching his career
no way. Dan Pasqua, Pete O'Brien , and Kent Hrbek
@@eugenegreen2285 😁 funny guy !
I’d love one on my personal favorite player of all time, Roy Halladay.
Love the videos! New sub but love how deep you get into the videos. These players all deserve it.
He’s definitely one I want to do one of these videos on. Lots to talk about, and his career is very impressive
Yeah, between him and Griffey Jr. and Chipper we were spoiled with gr8 dudes on top of ball players. And (I had to edit this) who loved “Rock” Raines leading off and Frank cleaning up, then you got Robin Ventura hitting in the 3 spot, Black Jack pitching, shut me down or I’ll name everyone to play on a 90s roster haha.
My all time favorite baseball player. I was obsessed with The Big Hurt when I was growing up
Also played in the NFL
Thanks cam! Your killing with this series & all editing ya do for Fuzzy. Your a wizard! Keep up the great job. Creating & leaving your own legacy with these.... They outlive us all like those early sports docs imo
Been waiting for this one. The reason I became a Sox fan, dude was a beast!
Your videos are filled with videos I haven't seen and include info I am too lazy to look up. Your channel has the look of something that will have a loyal group of followers for as long as your passion continues. I found you with the Kirby Puckett video, and have enjoyed since. Cheers!
Thank you! I appreciate your support of this series 🙌🏼
Fav all time player. I was fortunate enough to watch hundreds of his games on WGN and ESPN and Fox. Insane bat speed, eye and power.
I still remember playing Frank Thomas Big Hurt baseball on Sega 😂
Ever given any thought to a McGriff video? Just throwing it out there. I had his game on SNES.
Yea that’s a good one 😊
Haven’t even watched it yet and I already know this is gold. My favorite player of all time. Have a bat that he signed hanging above my signed poster of Bo Jackson’s infamous shoulder pads and bat across his shoulders. Looking forward to checking this out!!!! Thanks, dude. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody. ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻
My favorite baseball player of all time. Very well done and THANK YOU. ✌️
As a life time Sox fan I was constantly amazed by Frank Thomas. Ive seen him fooled by curve balls and still hit them 430 feet to right field
Tony Gwynn had some amazing things to say about Frank. Says a lot to get high praise from one of the best.
I’ll never forget the day I started liking baseball. It’s was in the 1994 home run derby in Pittsburgh (think that’s the right year). I saw what looked like a football player hit a 500+ foot homer lol. Been a big hurt fan ever since
Big Frank and Griff were my favorite players. I have Polaroids of Thomas outside the dugout back in the Kingdome :)
Best hitter of the 90s. I watched him day in day out in..Chicago... he was unbelievable. His eye was so good and on par with anyone. To have those power numbers plus average. He would spray the ball everywhere.
I would love to see Ichiro covered, a lot of history with that dude. And it would be cool to see how he dominated the NPL before coming over
Or an Eddie Murray video
Agreed on Both men!!!😎👍👊
If only Ichiro didn't come into the US when he was pushing 30. Even if he arrived five years before he would have broken almost every record and probably would have hit 500+ home runs even though he didn't (want to) hit for power.
One the greatest of all time
I grew up with Frank, batted 3rd on the Peach league Lions. Frank of course batted clean up! Greatest dude you'll ever meet. I never saw a bad pitch because of who was behind me, and he never saw a good pitch because, well, he was a bad man even at 12! Still hit 10 Homer's in 20 games w horrible pitches to swing at. Was so glad to see him go to Cooperstown!
@breadandcircuses8127 yes indeed, Little league 12 yo team.
Nothing but respect for this guy, one of the greatest hitters I’ve ever seen.
Let me also add great appearance in Mr. Baseball 👌🏻.
I was hoping he mentioned Mr. Baseball, (underrated movie) the rookie (Frank Thomas) made Jake Elliot (Tom Selleck) retire from the MLB, talk about a “Big Hurt” 😂
Great job on this video and all of your content. Your hard work and love for the game is evident in the exceptional quality of you videos.
Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad you’re enjoying the content!
Grew up in Chicago and my pops was a huge White Sox fan. We went to tons of games. The Big Hurt was a beast.
Great video. Frank was my favorite. Frank Thomas day was special.
Thanks! I appreciate you suggesting him, I had a blast learning about Frank.
His overall baseball record is so groundbreaking and yet he’s considered underrated. That’s what many people say. I’d say he’s been deliberately forgotten because in the end he had better morale than the whole MLB organization
Huh? Why do you say that?
@@TiagoGomez-hb9tehe was the only baseball player to be interviewed about the steroids scandal and didn’t hold back on anything. He even volunteered to be drug tested every game so that everyone knew he was clean and played a fair game
Awesome video man. I greatly appreciate it being a Frank Thomas fan the crazy fact is that he's 0 for 11 facing Nolan Ryan. And that 93 team of the White Sox against that Toronto Blue Jays team that ended up winning the world series. He was walked 11 times in the series so he couldn't hurt the Blue Jays which was a smart move by them.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the video. It was a blast to learn about Frank!
What a great, informative video of the Big Hurt! I appreciate your insights and for detailing his charity. Frank is the epitome of a man that’s been through the wringer and has consistently come out on top. Favorite player hands down!
Thank you! I really enjoyed researching the Big Hurt's career, one of my favorite videos I've done to this point
He was my favorite player when I was growing up. I was lucky enough to meet him outside Busch Stadium before game 5 of the 2013 World Series and got to shake his hand.
Frank Thomas is up there with Eddie Murray and Frank Robinson for most underrated/overlooked superstars ever, due to just being consistently great. He was the best AL hitter in the 90's by a lot.
You got that right!
Great nickname, one of the best ever. #22 all-time in on-base percentage, #18 in OPS. One manager said if Frank came up with the bases loaded, he would intentionally walk him.
Toronto Blue Jays legend Frank Thomas!
Prime Frank had one of the tightest strike zones I have ever seen. Pitchers had to make almost perfect pitches (in the zone!) to get him out because he didn't chase.
My all time favorite baseball player and he also made me a die hard White Sox fan
Frank Thomas is one of my favorite players of all time! I am a huge white Sox. I grew up watching him on tv and at the parks.
Frank Thomas was and still very underrated. Great player and a great person. From this northsider Chicago fan you have my respect.
Nice to include charitable involvements.
I never wish there was a baseball strike in 1994. It sucked because not only did Thomas have 38 home runs at time of the strike but he didn’t have the most home runs at the strikes beginning as that was held by Matt Williams with the San Francisco Giants.
My older brothers favorite player. Frank was so good my brother changed his favorite number to 35.
Thanks for this one!
That’s awesome! And thank you I’m glad you enjoyed!
You hit this one out of the park yet again. Well done, young man.
Thank you so much, I’m glad you enjoyed!
Love these videos. Being from the u.k,although we can now watch games everyday we still dont get a lot of historical info so to hear about these greats is awesome.
That’s so great to hear! I love that baseball can bring us from all around the world to learn about the history of this amazing game together. Thank you for tuning in!
The Big Hurt!!! He was my favorite player as a kid.
I loved this mans game so much! All time great!
As a kid watching up I knew he was a monster of a player but as an adult now his stats are insane. I remember rocking my big hurt Reebok batting gloves on little league. They say to never meet your hero’s, unless your hero is Frank Thomas. 1000% class act and humble person and deserved his spot in Cooperstown.
Ohh baby!! Thank you so much for making this!
Thank you for watching! I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
6'4" 250...and won a batting title with .347! Had .349 previous year. He really only struck out when he was trying too hard to get a HR.
Explain
@@TiagoGomez-hb9te Frank was a dude who had insane power, but he was phenomenal at contact hitting. White Sox were just not that good offensively. He spent a lot of time going for the fences to get home runs and get his players across the plate. If Frank was just a lead-off hitter, for example, he’d have had a much higher career average and way less strikeouts
Frank Thomas is my second favorite player behind Jr. Such a consistent and humble player. LOVE THE BIG HURT!!!
One of the greatest all around pure hitters I saw. MVP 2 years in a row. He was overshadowed by bonds, Griffey, piazza, Big Mac & Sammy. One special athlete
Good video. I forgot all about Frank Thomas. I guess that was emblematic of his career, quiet and carried a big Hurt!
He seems to already not be talked about as much as he should imo. He was a great player.
Great video! Happy I found your channel.
Thank you! Welcome to the channel 🙌🏼
He hit so many 1st inning 3- run homers! I swear every game I went to he would park one!
Man looked like he ate bears for breakfast and Barry Bonds for lunch
🤣
My favorite player of all time even as an Astros fan. Got to watch him live one time and it was during Wilson Alvarez pitching a no hitter against Baltimore. He hit a home run right in front of me. That went from dull summer break to the greatest of all time
You know a ballplayer is amazing when they don't play for your favorite team and you're a fan!
Excellent video by far. Where have you been all my life? Please do one on Dave Winfield, please?
8:00 "That's Barry Bonds territory and *he wasn't juiced like Barry Bonds."*
Fixed it for you!
Met him multiple times. Truly great guy
Huge White Sox fan.
Frank Thomas is one of my favorite players ever 👍💯
Excellent work, as always! You've taught me so much. Maybe in like... 4th grade, I was briefly a bandwagon White Sox fan solely because of Mr. Thomas. He was a real life superhero.
His average and walk numbers would be impressive for someone with 60 career homeruns.
When it comes to someone as notorious as The Big Hurt, I am always immediately curious about the ratio of "earned" walks to intentional walks. A walk is a walk, and all the numbers count, but I appreciate them for different reasons.
Right or wrong, if I am being honest I am happy to see the most egregious PED users left out of the HOF, but I don't find myself getting upset about Pudge and Bagwell getting in. Frank has a right to be upset about it. But I would argue that the guys missing the final cut of big league rosters each year were the ones hurt the most.
Great video. Great ball player. I kinda wish he wasn't always trynna sell me supplements, but if Nutriflux was dropping thousand dollar bills in front of me, I'd pick'em up too.
Thank you, I’m glad you’re enjoying the content!
these videos are so fire could grow your channel to 250k w this series i literally be waiting on another to drop
I appreciate that! Thank you for supporting the series 🙌🏼
Thomas and Griffey were my 2 favorite players growing up.
It would be cool to see videos about Paul Molitor and Robin Yount. I saw Big Frank get in a fight with Dave Parker between a day night double header at Milwaukee County Stadium in the very early 90's. He was a great player, miss seeing him play.
Great video dawg never knew about frank because i’m 22 n from pittsburgh so baseball isn’t my first sport but the way you showcased big hurt was great keep it up man
Hey I appreciate that!
Great video brother, thank you.
I love these vids because it goes in depth into just how good these widely accepted hofers really were
I guess thats kinda the whole point though lol
I’m glad you’re enjoying the content! And you’re good haha 😂
I saw the title of this and wished it was about the ORIGINAL Frank Thomas... one of the nicest people I have ever met. Power hitter in the late 50's and early 60's... most famous for hitting 34 home runs as a member of the Original New York Mets in 1962.
He passed away recently
I was such a huge Frank Thomas fan in the day.
He was such a beast. I was blessed to see him play for my Oakland A's.
I was a kid when the big hurt was in his prime. And I can confidently say that when we were kids, there were two players that everyone wanted to be like: the kid and the big hurt. I got to see frank play in 93’ against the tigers. If it weren’t for ken Griffey, this guy would’ve owned the baseball world in the 90’s. He’s 1 of 4 players I can proudly say I got to witness play the game. Cal Ripken, Ozzie smith, and Derek Jeter are the others.
Living in Illinois with the Sox and the Cubs, I was always a Cubs fan, but Frank Thomas was always my favorite player.
Met him out front of Wrigley during Cubs Sox. Class act.
Im Yankees fan but "The Big hurt" one of my all time favorites. He was so sweet and he's great dude 😎 💪
The Big Hurt.That is one of my favorite nicknames of all time.
Awesome video, keep'em coming!
his stats give me goosebump
I'm a lifelong Sox fan and I'm so happy to have seen him play! BIG HURT! You can put it on the booooooooard, YYYYYESSS!
What a stud he was! Frank is a true franchise icon 😎