Jim Thome (2018)


Date of Birth: 8/27/1970
Birthplace: Peoria, Illinois
College: Illinois Central College

Jim Thome was raised in a family that loved baseball and softball. His grandmother, father, and aunt all played softball and his brothers played baseball in high school. His first baseball teacher was his father.

Thome played shortstop in high school and he was a top player on his team. He also played American Legion baseball while in high school. He continued to play baseball at Illinois Central College. He was drafted out of college in 1989 by the Cleveland Indians and he played in their minor league system in 1989 and 1990.

Cleveland Indians

Thome played with the Indians from 1991 through 2002. He also played in the minors in 1991, playing in just 27 games with the Indians.

Thome continued to split his time between the minors and the Indians in 1992 and 1993. He batted .205 in 40 games with Cleveland in 1992, and .266 in 47 games in 1993.

Thome played in 98 games with the Indians in 1994. He finished the season with 86 hits, 20 doubles, 20 home runs, 52 RBIs, and a .268 batting average. After that good start, he became a regular member of the Indians' roster. In 1995, he batted a career high .314 with 142 hits, 29 doubles, 25 home runs, and 73 RBIs in 137 games.

Thome won his only Silver Slugger award in 1996 for batting .311 in 151 games. He had a career high 157 hits, 28 doubles, 38 home runs, 116 RBIs, 1.062 OPS, and a career high .450 on-base-percentage.

In 1997, Thome showed good discipline at the plate, leading the AL in walks with 120. He finished the season with 142 hits, 25 doubles, 40 home runs, 102 RBIs, and a .286 batting average. The following year, he had 129 hits, a career high 34 doubles, 30 home runs, 85 RBIs, and a .293 batting average in 123 games.

Thome again led the AL in walks in 1999 with a career high 127. He also led the league in strikeouts with 171. He finished the season with 137 hits, 27 doubles, 33 home runs, 108 RBIs, and a .277 batting average in 146 games.

In 2001, Thome led the AL in strikeouts with a career high 185. He walked 111 times. He finished the season with 153 hits, 26 doubles, 49 home runs, 124 RBIs, and a .291 batting average in 156 games.

Thome had one of his best seasons in 2002, leading the AL in OPS (1.112), slugging percentage (.677), and walks. He finished the season with 146 hits, a career high 52 home runs, 118 RBIs, and a .304 batting average. He was awarded the Roberto Clemente award that year.

Philadelphia Phillies

Thome became a free agent on October 28, 2002, and he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on December 6th. He played with the Phillies from 2003 through 2005.

In his first season with the Phillies, Thome led the NL in home runs with 47. He also led the league in strikeouts with 182 (to 111 walks). He finished the 2003 season with 154 hits, 30 doubles, a career high 131 RBIs, and a .266 batting average in a career high 159 games.

Thome batted .274 in 143 games with the Phillies in 2004. He had 139 hits, 28 doubles, 42 home runs, and 105 RBIs. He won the Lou Gehrig award that year. The following season, he played in just 59 games and he batted .207.

Chicago White Sox

The Phillies traded Thome to the Chicago White Sox on November 25, 2005. He played with them from 2006 through August, 2009.

After struggling in 2005, Thome came back strong in 2006, batting .288 with 141 hits, 26 doubles, 42 home runs, and 109 RBIs in 143 games. He was named the AL Comeback Player of the Year. He also won the same award from Sporting News. In 2006, Thome moved to the DH position.

In 2007, Thome batted .275 with 119 hits, 19 doubles, 35 home runs, and 96 RBIs in 130 games. The following season, his batting average dropped to .245 but he still had 123 hits, 34 home runs, and 90 RBIs in 149 games.

The White Sox traded Thome to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 31, 2009. He finished the season with 90 hits, 23 home runs, 77 RBIs, and a .249 batting average in 107 games with Chicago and 17 games with the Dodgers.

Final Years as a Player

Thome became a free agent on November 6, 2009. He signed with the Minnesota Twins on January 26, 2010. In 2010, he batted .283 with 78 hits and 25 home runs in 108 games.

The Twins traded Thome to his first team, the Indians, on August 25, 2011. In 71 games with the Twins and 22 games with the Indians, he batted .256 with 71 hits.

Thome became a free agent again on October 30, 2011, and less than a week later, on November 4th, he returned to the Phillies. After just 30 games with the Phillies in 2012, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles on June 30th. He finished his final season in the major leagues with a .252 batting average in 58 games.

Awards and MLB Records

  • AL Comeback Player of the Year
  • Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year
  • Roberto Clemente award
  • Lou Gehrig award
  • Led AL in walks (3 times)

Career Statistics

Batting statistics for Thome in 18 full seasons (1994-2011) in the major leagues include:

  • 4 seasons with 150 or more hits, with a high of 157 in 1996
  • 3 seasons with 30 or more doubles, with a high of 34 in 1998
  • 12 seasons with 30 or more home runs, with a high of 52 in 2002
  • 9 seasons with 100 or more RBIs, with a high of 131 in 2003
  • 9 seasons with 100 or more walks, with a high of 127 in 1999

Career batting statistics for Thome include:

  • 2,543 games played
  • 2,328 hits
  • 451 doubles
  • 612 home runs
  • 1,699 RBIs
  • 2,548 strikeouts to 1,747 walks
  • .276 batting average
  • .402 on-base percentage
  • .956 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Thome at first base include:

  • 1,106 games played
  • 709 assists
  • 913 double plays
  • 9,165 putouts
  • 64 errors
  • .994 fielding percentage

Postseason statistics for Thome include:

  • 10 postseasons
  • 71 games played
  • 232 at-bats
  • 49 hits
  • 2 doubles
  • 1 triple
  • 17 home runs
  • 37 RBIs
  • 73 strikeouts to 30 walks
  • .211 batting average

Post Playing Career

Thome was hired as a special assistant to the general manager of the White Sox in July, 2013.

Thome was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2018 on the first ballot with 89.8% of the vote.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Jim Thome
ESPN - Jim Thome
Baseball Reference - Jim Thome

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