Early Life

Frank Thomas was born in 1968, 27th day of May. His birth name was Frank Edward Thomas, Jr. His place of birth is Columbus, Georgia, in the United States of America. He went to Columbus High School where he was excelled as a three sport athlete. While starring for the football and basketball teams at Columbus High, his real passion was for baseball.  Thomas would lead his high school team to state championship before moving on to the college ranks.

Playing history

Following high school Thomas chose to attend Auburn University, where he received a scholarship to play football.  But his love for playing baseball persisted. The university’s baseball coach realized his potential and his baseball career began in earnest. After excelling on the Auburn Tigers baseball team, Thomas was beginning to receive more attention from Major League scouts. He would narrowly missed a chance to join 1988 US Olympic baseball tem. In 1989, the Chicago White Sox selected Thomas with the seventh pick in the first round of the Major League Draft. He made his first Major League appearance in 1990, against the Milwaukee Brewers. He would subsequently go 0-4 in his first game.

Dreaded by pitchers in the Major’s for his power hitting, Thomas is known to have practiced his swing with a rusted rebar. In 1991 he would win the first of four Silver Slugger Awards, awarded to best hitter at each position. Two years later, he would join Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx as the only players to ever achieve a .300 batting average with more than 20 home runs, more than 100 RBI, runs, and walks in three consecutive seasons. This achievement led Frank to be voted unanimously as the Most Valuable Player in 1993. Between the years 1993-1997, Thomas would be in the top 10 of the MVP voting each year.

Following1997, he became injury prone and the White Sox had to decide whether to use him as a designated hitter or play him at first base. Though he preferred to play in the field, they began to use him primarily as designated hitter. Tragedy struck Thomas when he lost his father in 2001 and the same year he had a triceps tear in his right arm. After the injury he never managed to quite regain his form and would not hit a .300 batting average again. He did make a comeback in 2002, but managed only a .252 batting average. While his consistency was down, his slugging ability still remained an effective weapon.  He would tie for second in the American league in 2003 with 42 home runs. Due the injuries and age, his performance dipped significantly in the years 2004 and 2005 and would make 350 plate appearances.

In 2005, the White Sox would win their first World Series in nearly 100 years. Due to injuries, Thomas was not on the post-season roster.  To honor his contributions to the team, he was chosen to throw out the first pitch in a Division Series game with the Boston Red Sox. He would receive a championship ring for his efforts throughout the season though. Following the championship season, the White Sox decided to release Thomas. His departure from the White Sox team did have a bit of drama, as Thomas felt the front office was not straight forward with him.