Jim Thome Statue

Re: Jim Thome

I remember they missed Chisenhall's first career MLB at bat this year, too.

 

Re: Jim Thome

Steroid testing started in 2004.

Thome's 3 best home run seasons? 2001, 2002 and 2003.

He is not above suspicion.

 

Re: Jim Thome

Certainly not impossible that Thome juiced, but as a guy who watched him play virtually every game from 1991 until he left Cleveland, his weight gain that came around 1995 or 1996 never seemed suspicious. He went from a beanpole to a thick guy. He didn't look like Mr. Universe. He didn't shed the weight after 2004. He's just a huge human being. He very well could've used PEDs, but there are no glaring signs to me that he did while in Cleveland. (Obviously, a guy like Palmeiro shows that there isn't always a dramatic change in appearance by users. But most seem to become very cut very quickly. Thome was just thick.) As for his time in Philly, Chicago and Minnesota, I'd have no idea.

And even when Thome was a young beanpole in 1993 and 1994, he still hit titantic blasts. The thing that really changed when he bulked up was the tremendous opposite field power. I watched him play for the Charlotte Knights in the early 1990s and he was a batting-champion style hitter going the other way. But when he got big, his stroke to left center was as pure as anyone has ever done it. Thome showed it again tonight with his home run to left field.

 

Re: Jim Thome

OK, and I know this is a very simplistic question, but ... why worry about it?

Can't you just enjoy the ride sometimes?

 

Re: Jim Thome

Fine by me. It's just kind of annoying that the media determines who's above suspicion and who's not simply by determining who's nice to them.

People want to believe Thome is clean so he is. People want to believe Bonds is a cheat so he is.

If we don't know, without a doubt, EVERYBODY who cheated, then the Hall of Fame voters have no right to selectively pick and choose who goes in the Hall based on who was unfortunate enough to get caught.

We're about to see shit hit the fan with the Hall of Fame vote, that's for sure.

 

Re: Jim Thome

I'm 110% with you on that count.

 

Re: Jim Thome

Bingo!

 

Re: Jim Thome

In other words, if we have a couple of years where NO ONE is elected to the Hall of Fame, the Hall will take such a financial hit (because induction weekend is responsible for a huge portion of their yearly revenue stream) that they'll consider stripping the vote from the BBWAA.

 

Re: Jim Thome

This makes no sense to me. The traffic cop might not know everybody who exceeded the speed limit but he sure as hell knows that YOU did, so he writes you the ticket.

The IRS might not know everybody who cheated on their taxes but if they pull your returns and find in the audit that YOU did, you suffer the penalties, interest and possible prosecution.

People who were "unfortunate enough to get caught" got caught. Period. They can be dealt with as the judges see fit.

The trickier part is guessing yea or nay on guys who didn't get caught. To me, that's one reason there is a 15-year window to vote guys into the HOF or not. We might want to wait on some of these otherwise-worthy candidates. No real harm in that. We might learn more by then.

But c'mon, we know more than we need to know about Bonds' using. No matter how puzzled we are by Thome or Bagwell or whomever.

 

Re: Jim Thome

Who are these Indians of which you speak?

 

Re: Jim Thome

I feel like we need to set up a committee that can decide once and for all who we suspect cheated their way to Hall of Fame numbers, for the good of the sport and the good of the country. We could call it -- and I'm just throwing out something off the top of my head here -- Hunting Un-Apologetic Cheaters, or HUAC for short. If enough people suspect you cheated, like Jeff Bagwell for instance, then you can never get into the Hall of Fame, despite whatever evidence you might have.

 

Re: Jim Thome


HUAC?