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For a power hitter (his career batting average is .278), and ability to get on base. He is 2nd on the all-time list of strikeouts by a batter, and the active leader n that category, with 2,395. Only 9 other major league players have more career walks than Thome.
Sosa, who has been on the disabled list since May 16 with a sprained ligament in his lower back brought on by two sneezes, said he expects to return to the Cubs for Friday's game against Oakland. Batting leadoff as the designated hitter for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, Sosa doubled, grounded out twice and struck out swinging in a 4-2 loss to the Birmingham Barons. John McDonald, getting a rare start and batting only .107, got a career-high four hits and Lou Merloni had two of the Indians' eight doubles.
Baseball and personal life
"Welcome to the club," Mays said in a video shown on the Twins' television broadcast. The Tigers posted a congratulatory message on the scoreboard after Thome's homer, and the Twins came out to greet him at home plate. His quiet chase, which seemed to vanish from baseball's consciousness as injuries slowed him down, was finally complete. He entered the at-bat with 12 walk-off home runs, tied with Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Stan Musial, and Frank Robinson. The aforementioned string of home runs Thome would hit in the final June of his celebrated career would be the final one he would hit in a Phillies uniform. Thome hit his 40th home run of the season in a forgettable 8-4 loss in Pittsburgh in September.
But once he did, on a towering shot to the left-field bleachers at Toronto's SkyDome, Sheffield immediately dreamed of pursuing 100 more. Guerrero joined elite company when he became one of only six players to hit 400 home runs while also hitting .320 or better, accompanied by Ruth, Musial, Williams, Gehrig and Foxx. Ortiz became the sixth player to reach 400 homers while in a Red Sox uniform, and the first since Ramirez in 2005. Soriano snapped a five-game homerless streak by going deep in consecutive at-bats against Toronto southpaw J.A. The seven-time All-Star helped lead the Yankees to a 7-1 win behind Andy Pettitte.
Thome becomes first Phillie in 20 years to hit 40 HRs
He reunited with former Cleveland teammate Manny Ramirez in Los Angeles. Jim hit .235 with no home runs and three RBIs while with the Dodgers (4-for-17). After the season, he filed for free agency, eventually signing with the Minnesota Twins. Philadelphia Phillies' Jim Thome waves to the crowd before a baseball game against the New York Mets, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, in Philadelphia. He deposited his 400th shot into the visitors' bullpen in July, then joined the coveted 3,000-hit club in mid-September of the same season.
After attending Illinois Central College, he was drafted by the Indians in the 1989 draft, and made his big league debut in 1991. Early in his career, Thome played third base, before eventually becoming a first baseman. With the Indians, he was part of a core of players that led the franchise to two World Series appearances in three years during the mid-1990s. Thome spent over a decade with the Tribe, before leaving via free agency after the 2002 season, to join the Philadelphia Phillies, with whom he spent the following three seasons.
Jim Thome clocks his 600th home run
In 2011, he was ranked the sixth-best designated hitter in MLB history by Fox Sports. During his career, he compiled a .284 batting average against fastballs but compiled just a .170 batting average against sliders. On June 4, 2008, Thome hit a 464-foot home run—which at the time was the ninth-longest home run in U.S.
Sign up for the free Baseball Reference newsletter and get scores, news and notes in your inbox every day. And moved up to 11th on the all time home run list with 564 home runs. Which proved to be the difference as the White Sox defeated the Minnesota Twins 1–0.
After one season, he was drafted by MLB's Cleveland Indians as an "afterthought" in the 13th round of the 1989 MLB draft. Since signing with the Twins before last season, Thome has been a popular figure at Target Field — both in the clubhouse and for the paying customers in the seats. He hit 25 home runs last season in just 276 at-bats, many of them moon shots that sailed high into the Minneapolis air and caused players, coaches, fans and everyone else to shake their head in amusement and astonishment. Jim hit 47 home runs in his first season with the Phillies, finishing one behind Mike Schmidt’s single-season team record of 48 in 1980, and tied with Alex Rodriguez for the MLB lead in 2003. On June 14, 2004, at Citizens Bank Park, he hit his 400th career home run, surpassing Al Kaline for 37th on the all-time home run list.
With a down-home demeanor and an uncanny ability for hitting home runs in a ballpark that has proven too big for most hitters, it hasn't taken long for Thome to reach heightened status in the Twin Cities. He dressed up as Paul Bunyan and led Babe the Blue Ox by a leash for a television commercial, and the lumberjack shirt with his No. 25 on the back is a hot item at the park. When No. 600 went over the fence, the crowd in Detroit came to its feet to applaud Thome. Only Babe Ruth needed fewer at-bats to reach 600, doing so in 6,921.
Unfortunately, neither MLB.com or Youtube has a highlight of the home run . Given the context, the place and time of the franchise, and what would follow in the next decade, this may have been the most memorable free agent courting in Philadelphia history. You could probably make an argument that Jim Thome was the most underrated hitter of his generation, which is crazy to say when you consider he hit over 600 home runs. "Jim's signing ushered in a new era of Phillies baseball," said Executive Vice President David Buck. After Ruth, Ott was the next to reach 400 home runs -- and the first in the National League. The Reds' Ken Griffey Jr., who began yesterday with 499 home runs, was being rested and was not in the starting lineup.
Babe Ruth’s arrival as a pitcher-turned-power hitter 80-some years ago began the trend and changed the game forever. But in the 1990s and early 2000s, the home run was almost all anyone in baseball cared about. And you remember the Phillies really never joined the home run party, save for the 1996 Home Run Derby at Veterans Stadium.
For the season, Thome hit 42 home runs, drove in 109 runs, and hit .288, though he struck out in 30% of his plate appearances, the highest percentage in the AL. On May 1, 2006, Thome returned to Cleveland to play against the Indians in his first game as a visitor at Jacobs Field, and received an unenthusiastic reception. During the 2000 season, Thome hit .269 with 37 home runs and 106 RBIs. On June 21, he hit his 20th home run of the year against the Chicago White Sox, marking the seventh consecutive season in which he hit 20 or more home runs.
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