Inside Baseball

Doubting Thomas?  

The White Sox did, and Frank Thomas is motivated to prove them wrong

By Albert Chen

So it has come to this for a 34-year-old, two-time MVP who was once a lock for Cooperstown: Frank Thomas has never had more to prove. Entering his 14th year with the White Sox, Thomas is no longer the team's most consistent slugger (he's been supplanted by Magglio Ordoñez), and he doesn't dominate the headlines as he once did (the acquisitions of pitchers Bartolo Colon and Billy Koch -- not Thomas's off-season pouting -- were the big news on the South Side this winter). "We need him," says shortstop Jose Valentin. "At the same time, this team is not just Frank."

Frank Thomas isn't the only big-name major leaguer who's lookinf to rebound from a disappointing season. Jonathan Daniel/ Getty Images

Team executives also seem to believe that parting ways with Thomas, who hit a career-low .252 as Chicago's designated hitter last year, would be no big hurt. In October owner Jerry Reinsdorf, based on the recommendation of general manager Kenny Williams, exercised the "diminished skills" clause in Thomas's contract, allowing the club to defer all but $250,000 of his annual $10.4 million salary for the 2003 season. Angered by the move, Thomas exercised another clause that enabled him to test the free-agent market. But he wound up signing a one-year, $5 million deal with the White Sox after failing to receive a better offer. The franchise's alltime leader in home runs and RBIs now makes less than three of his teammates. "That's a slap in the face," Thomas said on the spring's first day of full workouts.

Thomas is determined to become one of the game's top hitters again, and apparently there's little reason he can't. The torn right triceps that sidelined him for most of 2001 and still hampered him last season is completely healed, and he spent the off-season getting into top shape. And with an incentive-laden contract, he could earn up to an additional $3 million this year.

Thomas arrived at camp two weeks early to train with hitting guru Walt Hriniak, his batting coach for six years, beginning in in 1990, his rookie season. They last paired in 2000, when Thomas rebounded from a dismal season to hit .328 with 43 homers and earn American League Comeback Player of the Year honors. This year Hriniak worked with Thomas on driving more balls to the opposite field. "I have to get back to centerfield and right centerfield, which was my strength for years," says Thomas, a career .314 hitter who bats righthanded. "I've been trying to lead the league in homers the past few years instead of batting average."

Thomas says he's ready to put the tumultuous off-season behind him. "The reason I'm not as bitter as I would have been is that Kenny went out and made some serious moves," says Thomas. "For the first time in a long time, I feel we can [be playing] in October if everybody plays at a high level."

That's a good sign coming from someone who was a clubhouse headache last season. Thomas sparred with manager Jerry Manuel, who benched him for three games in July without saying why, and first baseman Paul Konerko, who criticized Thomas for missing pregame stretching just before the All-Star break.

"Hopefully he has his mind straight," says Valentin. "[Last season] we were complaining about Frank doing this and that, and we weren't taking care of our own business. The only way we can help Frank is to show him that we can do it without him."

Issue date: March 10, 2003

For more Inside Baseball see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, March 5. Click here to subscribe to SI.

 

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