James Howard Thome
How often is it that a team like the Phillies of 2002 make a big splash in free agency? It would be like the Kansas City Royals, the Minnesota Twins, or the Oakland A's signing Johnny Damon this year (coincidentally, he's already played for two of those teams). It helped that the Phils were getting a new stadium soon, but for a team whose last "big" deal was when they signed Danny Tartabull in 1997, this was pretty unexpected.
When Jim Thome (or Howie, as my friends and I like to call him) came to Philadelphia from Cleveland, he brought everything Phillies fans wanted. He was a natural fill-in after Scott Rolen's career in Philadelphia ended bitterly. He hailed from the midwest, just like Rolen, and he hit lots of homers and played corner infield, just like Rolen. He was the strong, silent type, just like Rolen. He said and did all the right things when he came to town, playing up his good old boy accent and blue-collar background. It didn't hurt that he'd hit 52 homers the season before that, either, which would have been the most ever by a Phillie.
But three years later, and he's out the door. If you traded Jim Thome for Aaron Rowand in 2003, you'd be run out of town. Now, it seemed like a good deal for the Phillies. In Rowand they get a centerfielder (finally!) who can hit for average and power. The White Sox get an aging, oft-injured power hitter to put at DH and replace their other aging, oft-injured DH, Frank Thomas.
Thome came into town labeled as the franchise player meant to lead the team into their new ballpark, eclipse some milestones, and retire a beloved figure in two huge baseball towns. Instead, he played very little last season (only 59 games), and most of the time he did, he was obviously not at 100%. He finished the season hitting .207 with 7 homers and 30 RBIs in 193 at-bats. Things only got worse when Ryan Howard, the Phillies former trade bait and current rising star, absolutely exploded for a tremendous NL Rookie of the Year season marked by 22 home runs, including 10 in the month of September.
How will Thome be remembered in Philadelphia? When he was healthy, he was a great power hitter. Whenever he came to the plate, there was always that feeling that he could go deep and change the game. He hit his 400th home run in Citizens Bank Park, undoubtedly one of the memorable Phillies moments of this decade. He was an all-star for the Phillies in 2004. No Phillies fan will forget the series he had against the Florida Marlins in the midst of a wild-card race in 2003 (remember the Hurricane Game at the Vet?).
Then there's the other side, the typical pessimistic Phillies fan that would bring up how often Thome got injured, how he was overpaid, how he tended to come up small in big situations, how he struck out too much, and how he ultimately didn't live up to the expectation of leading the Phillies to the playoffs.
It was too short an affair. I'm not saying that the Phillies shouldn't have traded Jim Thome, but it seems unfair that such an important player only played two full seasons with them. Thome was a hard-working player, a great power hitter, and a team leader. It's a shame he couldn't have stayed a little longer.
That said, I'll be rooting for him to stay healthy this year and do well with the Chicago White Sox. If the Phillies don't make it to the World Series (hah!), I'll be rooting for the ChiSox the whole way. Thanks, Howie.
When Jim Thome (or Howie, as my friends and I like to call him) came to Philadelphia from Cleveland, he brought everything Phillies fans wanted. He was a natural fill-in after Scott Rolen's career in Philadelphia ended bitterly. He hailed from the midwest, just like Rolen, and he hit lots of homers and played corner infield, just like Rolen. He was the strong, silent type, just like Rolen. He said and did all the right things when he came to town, playing up his good old boy accent and blue-collar background. It didn't hurt that he'd hit 52 homers the season before that, either, which would have been the most ever by a Phillie.
But three years later, and he's out the door. If you traded Jim Thome for Aaron Rowand in 2003, you'd be run out of town. Now, it seemed like a good deal for the Phillies. In Rowand they get a centerfielder (finally!) who can hit for average and power. The White Sox get an aging, oft-injured power hitter to put at DH and replace their other aging, oft-injured DH, Frank Thomas.
Thome came into town labeled as the franchise player meant to lead the team into their new ballpark, eclipse some milestones, and retire a beloved figure in two huge baseball towns. Instead, he played very little last season (only 59 games), and most of the time he did, he was obviously not at 100%. He finished the season hitting .207 with 7 homers and 30 RBIs in 193 at-bats. Things only got worse when Ryan Howard, the Phillies former trade bait and current rising star, absolutely exploded for a tremendous NL Rookie of the Year season marked by 22 home runs, including 10 in the month of September.
How will Thome be remembered in Philadelphia? When he was healthy, he was a great power hitter. Whenever he came to the plate, there was always that feeling that he could go deep and change the game. He hit his 400th home run in Citizens Bank Park, undoubtedly one of the memorable Phillies moments of this decade. He was an all-star for the Phillies in 2004. No Phillies fan will forget the series he had against the Florida Marlins in the midst of a wild-card race in 2003 (remember the Hurricane Game at the Vet?).
Then there's the other side, the typical pessimistic Phillies fan that would bring up how often Thome got injured, how he was overpaid, how he tended to come up small in big situations, how he struck out too much, and how he ultimately didn't live up to the expectation of leading the Phillies to the playoffs.
It was too short an affair. I'm not saying that the Phillies shouldn't have traded Jim Thome, but it seems unfair that such an important player only played two full seasons with them. Thome was a hard-working player, a great power hitter, and a team leader. It's a shame he couldn't have stayed a little longer.
That said, I'll be rooting for him to stay healthy this year and do well with the Chicago White Sox. If the Phillies don't make it to the World Series (hah!), I'll be rooting for the ChiSox the whole way. Thanks, Howie.
posted by Kevin A. Doran at 3:44 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home