When Jim Thome left the Indians for the Philadelphia Phillies following the 2002 season, many fans in Cleveland were upset because the big first baseman had intimated that we would take less money to remain in an Indian uniform.
To this day, Thome still hears boos whenever he returns to Progressive Field.
This weekend, Thome’s current team, the Minnesota Twins, come to Cleveland for the last time this season. The Twins lead the AL Central and appear likely to make the playoffs yet again, and Thome has been a key contributor to their cause.
It’s time to stop the vitriol towards the big man, and afford him the standing ovation he deserves as this franchise’s all time home run leader, and a player who provided many thrills for the baseball fans of this city.
He’s going to the Hall of Fame, and when he does so, he will be wearing an Indians’ cap.
Thome is perhaps the most overlooked great player of this era. He currently ranks 8th on the all time home run list, tied with Frank Robinson, and he has never been linked to any performance enhancers, unlike many of the contemporary sluggers. He also ranks 30th all time in runs batted in.
He was one of the key players on the last two Indians teams that went to the World Series in 1995 and 1997, and since he left he has regularly appeared in the post-season.
He caught a pop up for the last out in the division clinching game in 1995 against the Orioles, putting the Indians in the playoffs for the first time in 41 years.
He hit the home run to put the Tribe ahead in pivotal Game 5 of the 1995 ALCS against the Mariners. That win gave Cleveland a 3-2 lead in the series, and the Tribe advanced to the World Series two nights later.
In 2008, his home run in a one game playoff gave the White Sox the division title over the Twins. He’s ranked in the top five in his league in dingers eight times, most recently in 2008 when he belted 34.
He’s finished in the top ten in the MVP voting four times in his career.
And he’s still belting them out, smashing one off the top of the flagpole in Target Field earlier this week, an estimated 480 foot shot.
It was upsetting when Thome left because he talked about how he wanted to stay, but in the end he went for more money. That’s no different than most other professional athletes. However, that was almost eight years ago. It’s time to turn the page.
The big guy is now 40 years old, and even though he’s been very productive this season, at that age, you don’t know if this will be his last appearance at Progressive Field, a place where he’s hit more home runs than anybody else. He deserves to hear an ovation in this city one last time, a city that he’s given more than their share of thrills.
Thome is one of the remaining symbols of when the Indians were one of the best teams in all of baseball. There aren’t many left any more, just Omar Vizquel and Manny Ramirez, who will be here with the White Sox at the end of the season.
Jim Thome has been on winning teams for most of his career. Let’s give him our thanks for the good times he contributed to with the Tribe.
KM
Cleveland Sports Perspective 