Like many veteran professional athletes, there comes a point where you just can't do it anymore. White Sox fans, are we seeing the very end of a good career right before our eyes with Jim Thome? It looks awfully painful to see a ballplayer like Thome struggle miserably at the plate right now, and he's become quite a target of criticism among many fans who call into Chris Rongey's White Sox Radio postgame show on 670 "The SCORE". What would you do with Thome? Do you bench him tonight, DH Paul Konerko, play Brian Anderson in center and shift Nick Swisher to first vs. Jon Garland and Anaheim? I know you can't play Jim this weekend in San Francisco because there's no DH in the National League ballpark and because the Giants are just as dreadful. I even heard Mike Mulligan this morning suggest the Sox possibly eating the big salary and releasing Thome completely....

Yeah. He would always get fooled on the curve ball.

Now, he's sitting on the fastball, waiting for it, getting it right where he wants it, and missing it. That's not good.

Still holding out hope that it's just a long slump. Doubting it. Even if he breaks out for a while he'll probably go back into another 6 week slump after that.

Let him play tonight and then sit during the SF series. I still believe he will pull out of this and hit 30 home runs this year. However, he can no longer hit lefties, especially lefty relievers.

It's not like Konerko has been much better.

At this point I am for anything that would:

1A- get Nick Swisher out of the outfield
1B- get more playing time for Brian Anderson
1C- get Thome-- an automatic out-- out of the lineup

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jon garland is as good a slumpbuster as you could ask for.

W_Z might disagree.

nice one

Actually he's 9/35 with 14k's against lefties for a .257 avg. with 3hr's & 10 RBI.
Against righties he's 18/98 with 30k's for a .184 avg. with 4hr's & 12 RBI.

2008 is his best season against LHP in a decade. 41/142 for a .289 avg in 1998.

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

2 of his 3 homers against lefties came on opening day. CeCe Sabathia.

He's never hit lefties well or for a lot of power.
Hers is the link to his career splits.
92 hr .240 avg. in 2,097 AB's v. LHP
422 hr .297 avg. in 4,877 AB's v. RHP

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bs ... i01&year=c

Thome's demise is not a result of not hitting lefties, it's cause he lost the ability to hit righties.

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

Checking out the White Sox lineup tonight vs. Jon "Five" Garland and the Anaheim (NOT LOS ANGELES) Angels, I noticed Jim Thome and his slipping batting average are back in the lineup as the DH. All I can say is enjoy Jimmy now, because he's on the bench whether he likes it or not all this weekend when the Sox and Giants start Interleague play in San Francisco! You can book it!

Not true. Thome was better than Frank in 2006. I think he was a little better than Thomas last year. Some would argue they were about equal maybe.

Plus, Frank was just an ass hole. Everybody on the team was sick of him and his bitching and moaning. He wanted everybody to tend to his wants and needs.

Plus, Nas, the Sox needed a lefty in their line up. We had enough right handed power. (Koerko, Dye, Crede.)

Thome was better the last two years for all of those reasons. He was a better option than Frank.

Now, Thome sucks a little more than Frank in 2008. Not much. Frank sucks this year too.

i love the hurt, but thome outplayed him by a considerable degree in both 2006 and 2007. there's no argument. look for yourself.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/thomafr04.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/thomeji01.shtml

With that logic, The Sox would have won on 2005 easier with Frank? They played better without Frank for a reason. They hated him. And no one with half a brain would have paid Rowand what San Fran did. Rowand has done well but it wont last. He's not that good of a hitter. Frank still is a distraction where ever he is. Does he know who Jackie Robinson is yet???

i don't know what you mean by the last comment in your post, but at least we agree re: rowand.

frank thomas hit a ton and helped the oakland a's get to the playoffs in 2006. frank thomas also hit a ton in 2007, but the blue jays were unfortunately one of the worst teams in baseball that year; funny thing is, thomas wasn't the one getting into it with his manager.

I remembered what I wrote was wrong on Thursday night but I just didn't have time to acknowledge my stupidity before today.

I still think Thome will end up getting out of this slump, but I would NOT hit him 3rd anymore. He should be hitting 6th or 7th. Keep Quentin right where he is for now, because nothing is broke.

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I wouldnt say considerable degree, but it does appear just by looking at stats that Thome has been better every year since the trade including this one. As for your point of Frank + Rowand, I agree that would clearly be better than just Thome. Looking at Frank's 04 and 05 stats though you can necessarily blame KW for not keeping him.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

You know, I liked Rowand and still do, but the "I wish he were still our CF" needed to cease 2 and a half years ago. If he and/or Frank Thomas were still on the White Sox in 2006 and/or 2007, they still would not have made the playoffs.

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.270 .381 .545
vs.
288 .416 .598

and

.277 .377 .480
vs.
.275 .410 .563

thome has outslugged thomas by +.50 each of the two years in question. he's also out-obp'd the hurt by ~+.40 each of the two years. thome's OPS+ (adjusted for accuracy!) tops frank in both years, as well: 155 and 150 against 140 and 125. that, my friends, is a "considerable degree."

I'm not so sure that his translates into wins. Biggest problem, from what I saw, was pitching last year anyway.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

agreed. thomas' a's made it to the playoffs in 2006, while thome's sox did not. however, despite striking out at a higher clip than thomas did, thome made it on base a lot more, which should equal runs and, subsequently, wins.

In addition, if memory serves, Thomas wanted an unreasonable amount of money to return to the Sox. The market did not pay him anywhere what he was seeking and his past actions eliminated the Sox from wanting to match other offers.

Thomas vs. Thome is fairly even as far as stats go. But the Sox wanted a big left-handed hitter. And they wanted a guy that wasn't a complete asshole...allegedly. I'm a fan of Frank but what do I know.

His option was for almost $9 or $10 million iirc.

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