Frank Thomas 1929-2023

[stevejrogers]

RIP

[MFS62]

The memories.

He said he could catch any pitch with his bare hands.

His teammates nicknamed him "Donkey".

He was our first slugger.

RIP



Later

[Edgy MD]

Forever a http://phpbb3.leaptoad.com/mets/archives/1900/f1_t1946.shtmlmember of the community.

[whippoorwill]

No recollection of that book, or this thread.



Miss Zvon



Cleon was a bit of a dick here, no?

[metirish]

Rest in peace



Wow I remember that thread, 2005 wow , and the excitement of Frank Thomas replying, and certainly I reminisce seeing the usernames in the thread.



Miss you Zvon

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: Forever a http://phpbb3.leaptoad.com/mets/archives/1900/f1_t1946.shtmlmember of the community.

Thank you for posting that. I had forgotten about that thread and it was fun to read it again.



Later

[kcmets]

I guess if you're gonna get stuck on line at the pearly gates you can't

do much worse than getting to chat it up with Gina Lollobrigida while

you wait. Good luck Frank, remember the eyes are up here!

[Frayed Knot]

I remember the existance of that thread but in re-reading it it was better than i remember.

Frank was, in the view of most of us certainly, an old man at the time of it (six months older than my father) and yet managed to tack on another 17 years since. Nice run.

[G-Fafif]

“You'll never get me to downgrade the Mets. They're not the only last-place team I ever played for. The fans here are hard to beat. When I was in the hospital this season, I got 600 to 700 letters and cards. You can't beat that.”

That was Thomas after beating the Mets upon his return to Shea as a Phillie. He never stopped showing that sort of gratitude in interviews for the rest of his life. That, along with the 34 homers in 1962, should remain synonymous with his name.

[Edgy MD]

Kiss him goodbye.

[smg58]

A likeable guy, a great interviewee, and our first star player. RIP.

[Edgy MD]

Made it to Old Timer's Day in August.

[Fman99]

The Q&A starring our own local cast of idiots and fanbois is a fantastic re-read. I'd love to get another Met in here for that.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Frank Thomas held the title of "Oldest Living Met" for 58 days. The honor now passes to Roger Craig, who will turn 93 next month.



Joe Christopher moves into the Top Ten. Larry Burright into the Top Twenty, and Mickey Lolich into the Top Forty.

[Edgy MD]

Hopefully, Craig is still getting out there and golfing with Soupcan's father.

[metirish]

=smg58 post_id=116861 time=1673923698 user_id=62]
A likeable guy, a great interviewee, and our first star player. RIP.

[Benjamin Grimm]

45 players appeared in at least one game for the 1962 Mets. Only thirteen of them are still living:



Roger Craig

Jay Hook

Craig Anderson

Felix Mantilla

Ken MacKenzie

Joe Christopher

Cliff Cook

Galen Cisco

Rick Herrscher

Hobie Landrith

Jim Marshall

John DeMerit

Ed Kranepool

[Edgy MD]

Here's to the ongoing vitality of Hobie Landrith, Met Zero.

[G-Fafif]

A remembrance of the Frank Thomas legend http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2023/01/17/the-legend-of-the-original-frank-thomas/here.

[MFS62]

I hadn't remembered Galen Cisco was on the Mets in 1962.

Thanks.

Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

[FIMG=277]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52634902275_2caa3db619_h.jpg[/FIMG]

[G-Fafif]

Marvelous card-themed tribute via SABR to Frank by Michael Kane, including Thomas's trip to his last Old Timers Day.

If there was a Hall of Fame for major league ball players that signed Through The Mail (TTM), Frank would be in it. In his autobiography Frank recalled his youth and stated: “I'd wait outside of the clubhouse after games and try to meet the players and get their autographs. Many guys would walk right by us kids with no acknowledgement whatsoever. It was very disappointing to see. That's one of the reasons that I made a point to ALWAYS sign autographs as I left the clubhouse. I didn't want some young fan's recollection of me to be that I walked right past home as he held out his autograph book for me to sign.” Since 2019 Frank and I had been communicating on regular basis, primarily by mail. Frank was old school. He did not text and he did not have a computer. I would bang out a letter on my computer, and Frank would respond back with a handwritten letter. He would answer my baseball questions in his letters and give me updates on his health and his children. The nominal fee that he asked for signing baseball cards went to two charities: – Camp Happy Days-Kids Kicking Cancer and Courageous Kidz. I gladly contributed to his charities and sent him cards that spanned his career to sign. I always received the cards back promptly – beautifully signed – along with a thank you note. Letters from Frank were signed… Frank Thomas The Original One 1951- 1966 I always got a kick out of that.

https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2023/01/22/frank-thomas-the-original-one-wears-number-25-again-for-the-mets-old-timers-game-at-citi-field/https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2023/01/22/frank-thomas-the-original-one-wears-number-25-again-for-the-mets-old-timers-game-at-citi-field/

[Edgy MD]

Go, FOX, go!

[metirish]

Frank to good credit had some fun with this , still, very shoddy to do that to a guy Rudy worked for you

[metirish]

[G-Fafif]

Yeesh.