He is part of an elite group of four players (including Mel Ott, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams) to have at least a .300 batting average, 500 home runs, 1,500 RBI, 1,000 runs and 1,500 walks in a career.

Frank Thomas isn’t a pure home run hitter a la Mark McGwire. He isn’t a pure singles hitter like Ichiro. He’s been as pure an all-around hitter as you’ll find. Probably the best example is this: Ted Williams enjoyed a rather remarkable skein early in his career. He had six consecutive seasons in which he hit at least .300, with at least 20 HR and 100 runs/RBI/walks. In 1997, Thomas did him one better and enjoyed his seventh consecutive .300 season, with at least 20 home runs and 100 runs/RBI/walks.

I’m not saying that make Thomas (who enjoyed 500+ more at-bats over their respective runs) is in the same stratosphere as Williams, but he wasn’t exactly miles away either:

Ted Williams (1941-42, 46-49) Frank Thomas (1991-1997)

BA/OBP/SLG R HR RBI BB
Williams .359/.505/.657 817 211 780 898
Thomas .330/.452/.604 746 250 823 835

It takes a very special type of hitter to pull that off. You have to have a great batting eye, discipline, power and be able to maintain your ability to hit with the pressure that comes when runners are on base. You also have to remain healthy. The fact only Williams and Thomas have been the only hitters to pull it off speaks volumes as to Thomas' greatness. Let’s not forget that his streak was not derailed by the players’ strike that shortened both the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

Of course we’re just dealing with a seven-year stretch of his career. What about his totals to date? How do they stack up historically? To really get a grasp on this (if indeed such a thing is possible) we need to use adjusted stats; numbers that are adjusted for both era and ballpark. They’re not perfect, but they do a better job than traditional stats. Two that I like to use are Baseball Reference’s adjusted OPS-plus (*OPS+) and Lee Sinins’ Runs Created Above Average (RCAA) in that they adjust for both park and era.

Probably the best right handed hitter I'll see in my lifetime.

Frank was pretty dominant. The only mark that might prevent 1st ballot is the fact that he was mostly a DH.

Frank was pretty dominant. The only mark that might prevent 1st ballot is the fact that he was mostly a DH.

The same could be said about the Mariners' Edgar Martinez, Apologist, when his name is on the ballot in the next year or two. Ditto for Jim Thome when he calls it a career himself.

Yeah he was great, but Pujols is pretty dang good too. Not sure which one is better

Pujols is clearly better. More consistent. Less injured. Better fielder. He is Frank Thomas MVP version, all the time.

Pujols is clearly better. More consistent. Less injured. Better fielder. He is Frank Thomas MVP version, all the time.

(I put 'clean' in quotes because I don't think he used, but if it ever came out that he did, I would not be surprised.)

162 game averages

Pujols
HR RBI BA OPB SLG OPS
42 129 .334 .427 .628 1.055

Thomas
36 119 .301 .419 .555 .974

162 game averages

Pujols
HR RBI BA OPB SLG OPS
42 129 .334 .427 .628 1.055

Thomas
36 119 .301 .419 .555 .974

It is not really fair to Frank to make this comparison yet on averages. This includes the years Frank has dropped off as he got older. Pujols has not reached that point yet What are the numbers like when you just look at Frank's amazing run?

I wonder if the Ranger might have some company on his 670 The SCORE/White Sox Radio Network postgame shows this season or if Bill Melton might have a little company in the Comcast SportsNet studio after Sox games this season with Big Frank retiring...