Questions for Frank Thomas

[Guest Little Napoleon]

The Frank Thomas thing is awesome. Thanks (to the real one).

[Guest FrankThomas]

1) You were known as a dead pull hitter. Did they ever try an infield shift against you?

Yes, teams often put a shift on me to counter my pull-hitting style. The first time I saw it was in 1952 while I was in Double-A ball with the New Orleans Pelicans. Lou Boudreau had made the concept famous with his "Ted Williams Shift", so Luke Appling, the manager with the Memphis Chicks, borrowed the idea and used it against me when we played them that season. I saw it on and off for many years, and I lost many hits because of the shift, but I, for the most part, did not play into the hands of the opposition by trying to go the other way. I thought I'd be allowing them to take me out of my game by trying to hit into the hole, so I usually stayed true to my style, and it worked out for me more often than not.
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2) You switched teams eight times between 1959 and 1966. What was going on there? What was it about your game that made GMs think if you as tradeable? Was it because they could try fit you in at so many different positions?

I had been with the Pirate organization for a long time, 12 years, before I was first traded following the 1958 season -- so my legacy up to that point was not one of constant change. I think that particular trade was all about Pirates general manager Joe Brown trying to do what was necessary to push Pittsburgh over the top to a pennant. At 29 years of age, I was coming off a career year in 1958, so I was at my peak trade value for the Pirates. So they shipped me off to Cincinnati in exchange for three excellent players, Burgess, Hoak and Haddix, guys that would propel Pittsburgh to a World Series title in 1960. I'd paid my dues as a key part of their rebuilding process, so I wish I'd have been there to enjoy their pennant, but it was just another lesson for me that baseball was pure business to the guys in the front office. As for why I was traded so often after that, it was a combination of things. Injuries, for one. I had a thumb injury that ruined my time in Cincinnati in 1959. I had corrective surgery to repair the problem after that season, and I would have liked a chance to redeem myself with them in 1960, but they thought it's be tough for me after my bad season in 1959, so they dealt me to the Cubs. That's where some other factors began to play a role in my being traded. Age, for one. I spent a little over a year with Chicago, but I was over 30 and battling the Cubs' youth movement, so they sent me off to Milwaukee, thinking my best days were behind me. When I got to Milwaukee, Braves manager Charlie Dressen told me that I would be his everyday left fielder, and I thrived under that atmosphere. I was promised by the Braves front office that I'd be back for 1962, but, as I'd learned on a number of occasions, you can't trust the word of most general managers. I found out while hunting in the Poconos that I had been dealt to the expansion Mets. After getting over the initial anger of being lied to by Braves GM John McHale, I embraced my new opportunity in New York. I was honored that they wanted me and had plans for me to be a major component in their new venture. By the time the Mets traded me to the Phillies late in the 1964 season, they thought they were doing me a favor. Sending a veteran on a last place team to a first-place pennant contender. I parted on great terms with the Mets. My departure from the Phillies in 1965 was a different story, however, as I was released as a direct result of my fight with Richie Allen, and I thought it was unfair. The Astros gave me a shot after that, but then dealt me to the Braves at the end of the 1965 season. The Braves had hopes of making a push for the '65 pennant, and they were hoping I could rekindle the magic I had with them in 1961 and help them the way I had helped the Phillies in 1964, but it never materialized. I was told I'd be given a shot to make their team in 1966, but they never followed through with their promise and I was released before the season opened. Durocher gave me a brief shot with the Cubs, but I couldn't get it going. I was 37 and age had caught up to me. So as you can see. I was shipped around for all sorts of varied reasons. I always tried to look at the bright side of being dealt, however. Instead of focusing on the team that was getting rid of me, I would remind myself that the team that was getting me wanted me on their ballclub.
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3) You were famous for claiming that you could catch anybody's hardest throw barehanded.

It's true, by happenstance I had created an open-ended challenge that I could catch anybody's hardest throw bare-handed. Bill Pierro, a teammate of mine with Waco in 1949, was a hard-throwing pitcher. He was popping off one day about how hard he could throw, so I bet him that I could catch his hardest throw bare-handed. I had tough hands from playing fast-pitch sandlot softball without a glove as a kid back in Pittsburgh, so I had no doubt that I could catch Pierro without a glove. He was a typical cocky flamethrower, so he was shocked and embarrassed when I caught his fastball bare-handed. He was even more embarrassed when I caught the next six pitches he threw. Word got around, so before long I had guys lining up to throw me their best.

3a) It is said that you always lived up to this claim. Is that true?

Yes, for the duration of my career I was challenged by players from all over the league. I took all comers and never failed to catch them.

3b) At what distance did you catch them?

The bet was that I would catch them at 60-feet six-inches. Most of the time they would throw off the mound while I would be squatting behind the plate.

3c) Who was the hardest thrower you caught barehanded?

I can't really pinpoint who was the hardest thrower I ever caught. To be honest, many hard-throwers didn't want get involved for fear of being embarrassed if I caught them -- like Pierro. The toughest to catch, however, was Don Zimmer. He thought he could beat me by playing with the rules of the challenge. He walked off twenty-feet past the mound, then got an outfielder's running start and threw a spitter to me. I still caught it, though. Zim just threw his glove up in the air and said, "You made a believer out of me!"

3d) Did this have anything to do with you breaking your thumb in 1964?

My bare-handed catching activity, in hindsight, was not the smartest thing I could have done, especially considering the thumb injury I sustained late in the 1958 season. I hurt my thumb when the sharp end of a broken bat stabbed into my hand after getting busted in on the fists by Tom Acker. Two surgeries later, I was cured. I resumed my bare-handed challenge when I recovered, and it really could have got me hurt, but it played no role in my injury with the Phillies during the stretch run of 1964. In that case I broke my thumb while diving into second base. My hand slipped under the bag and slammed into the anchoring pin. I was swinging a hot bat at the time, and we had built a large lead in the pennant race in the one month that I had been with the club since coming over in my trade from the Mets. But as everyone now knows, I went on the shelf with my busted thumb and we embarked on a now-legendary collapse that saw us lose the pennant. I've never been so bold as to say one man could lose a pennant, but I know my thumb injury really hurt us. Gene Mauch, our manager that season, did, however, go as far as to say that my injury cost us the pennant. He pointed to me at the 25-year anniversary of the 1964 Phillies and said, “There's the reason we lost the pennant!”
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4) Casey Stengel --- idiot, genius, or both? Now that you're in your seventies, do you understand him better?

I always said that Casey forgot more baseball than I'll ever know. As for his double-talk to the media, he knew exactly what he was doing there. He used his "Stengel-ese" as a way of putting the media attention on him, thereby deflecting it away from his players. He knew we were limited on the field, so he tried to help eliminate some of the media pressure with his antics. I loved playing for Casey.
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5) This is a sensitive one. Playing your whole career in the National League, your era was an era of aggressive integration, can you describe what the general atmosphere was like?

The integration of baseball didn't bother me a bit because I rubbed shoulders with black people and played ball with black players where I grew up in Pittsburgh. It was just another thing that was going on and I never really gave it too much thought.

5a) Even for players without a racial animus, it must have been difficult as African-American players regularly won the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards through the fifties, and got the subsequent publicity. Is this accurate?

This may be hard to believe when you understand what a struggle the civil rights movement was, but it didn't bother me at all when black players achieved success in the 1950s. It may have bugged some guys, but not me. I had a tendency to see the basic nature of things, and to me, if you were a good player, you were a good player. It didn't matter the color of your skin.

5b) Were there racial issues between yourself and Richie Allen? Or was it, as reported, merely horseplay that got out of hand? There are certainly accounts that say Allen divided the team on racial lines.

In my book I write of my fight with Richie Allen in great detail, but I'll try and give a shorter synopsis of the incident here. The fight between me and Richie Allen, in my opinion, was not about race. There has been much made about it, but it was really very simple. I was know as an agitator, as were a lot of guys from my era. We would ride each other, but it was usually all in fun. Still, every now and then someone got mad. That's what happened in my fight with Allen. I was taking my cuts in batting practice and Richie was riding me about a failed bunt attempt I had made the night before. I made a comment to him comparing him to "Muhammad Cassius Clay" -- always running off at the mouth. That's where the rumors of a racist comment on my part come in. I did not mean it to be racially derogatory, but it hit a nerve with Allen. He challenged me to come down to his spot at third base and say it again. I told him he could come up to the plate when I was finished hitting at which point I would be glad to tell him again. He came to the plate, at which point I apologized. I bent down to put some dirt on my bat handle, and Richie sucker-punched me. I went into a defensive rage and swung my bat at Richie, and hit him on the shoulder. It escalated from there, but we were pulled apart by teammates in seconds. I apologized in the clubhouse to Richie, but he was not yet ready to accept my apology at that time. Still, we were professionals, and we went out on the field that night and did our jobs. Allen went 3-for-4 with two triples and four RBIs, and I hit a pinch-hit home run. Somebody joked that we should fight more often. When I crossed the plate after hitting my homer, I was very happy to see that Richie was the first one there to shake my hand. For the record, Allen gives his side of the fight story in his book, "Crash". His description of the events do not vary from mine, for the most part, but to be fair to him, there are two key differences. One, he does claim that my "Muhammad Clay" remark was meant to say something racial. Two, he does not claim to have sucker-punched me. He says I saw it coming. On both of those counts, however, I will have to agree to disagree with Richie. Even with our disagreements over those two issues, Allen and I were ready to move on after the game that followed the fight. The Phillies front office prevented that from taking place, however, when they released me after the game. That angered the Phillies fans and turned them against Allen. It didn't help that Richie was not allowed to tell his side of the story to the press -- manager Gene Mauch told him to say nothing about the fight to reporters. If you are interested in this topic, I would really recommend you read my book. I spend a lot of time on it and I really believe my retelling of the incident is very fair to Richie.

5c) Did you and Allen ever subsequently try to square things? And do you think this was a good look for him?

While we may still disagree on what was at the root of our fight, Richie and I did put the whole incident behind us. It took a long time, though. Because the Phillies separated us immediately by releasing me, we weren't able to smooth it out, and that's something I regretted for a long time. But when I saw Richie at the 25th anniversary reunion of the 1964 Phillies, I went up to him with my hand extended and friendship in my heart. He took my hand and said, "I know our fight has been bothering you for a long time, and it's bothered me too." He then gave me a big bear hug and said, "We are brothers."

[Guest Edgy DC]

Thanks Mr. Thomas, and happy holidays to you.

I'm enjoying the heck out of your book.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Wow!

Thank you, Mr. Thomas, for your insights and your stories. Happy Holidays and a Happy and Healthy New Year to you and your family!

[Theoldmole]

Mr. Frank Thomas is a very decent writer. He can express himself with words as well as with the bat.

Yes, I'll be buying his book.

And thank you, Frank -- from another Mets fan since 62.

[seawolf17]

Thank you for sharing your stories with us, Mr. Thomas! Please feel free to drop in any time.

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

You're as skilled with the pen as you were with the bat--it's a great pleasure to see events through your eyes, Mr. Thomas. This is a real treat for all of us, and I thank you for your generosity.

[Zvon]

Thank you Mr. Thomas.

I knew your place in Met history but never had the chance to be one of your fans.

I am now, though

[Guest Edgy DC]

Order now!

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Very interesting and enlightening writing by our esteemed guest. I hope he will continue to periodically grace us with his presence.

[Guest Edgy DC]

What do you think, Yancy? Is he coming back?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Haven't heard anything either way. I'll check in with him and we'll see what he says.

[Guest Edgy DC]

This is what I've got, edited slightly for clarity.

Valadius asks:

1) What was the atmosphere like on those early Mets teams?

2) Who, throughout your career, was your favorite teammate and why?

---

G-Fafif asks:

1) When the Mets presented their Ten Greatest Moments in 2000 as voted by the fans, the founding of the Mets was voted No. 10 and you were introduced to the crowd to represent the '62 Mets. What did it mean to you that almost 40 years later the fans remembered that team and what did it mean to you to be their standard-bearer and receive their (our) applause?

---

MFS62 asks:

Welcome, Frank. My screen name stands for Mets Fan Since 1962, so I saw you play.

I'm sure my fellow Mets fans join me in saying that we are very glad to see you here.

A few questions, with the understanding that I haven't read your book yet:

1) You started out with the Pirates: Was Branch Rickey the General Manager? What was he like?

2) Did you get any advice from Ralph Kiner? What was it?

3) Kiner left the Bucs in 1953. Did they leave up Kiner's Corner in left field, or did they revert to the old dimensions — 365 feet down the left field line? (If they did, your homer totals playing half your games in Forbes Field were very impressive.)

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Johnny Dickshot asks:

1) What kind of player was Elio Chacon? In retrospect, the numbers suggest he was probably a better player than his successor and/or his opportunities with the Mets showed.

2) The Mets are famous for their third-base experiments. Who was the better third baseman -- you or Jim Hickman?

3) As a hitter, who among the Mets' starting pitchers of 1962 and 1963 would you consider the most difficult to face? Why?

4) The Mets brought along a number of promising but very young pitchers in the early years, especially by 64 — Bearnarth, Locke, Kroll, Hinsley, etc. Whom do you recall as the most impressive young pitchers on these teams?

---

Bret Sabermetric asks:

Hello, Mr. Thomas. I'm another fan who saw you play.

1) I'm curious about your memories of one of your teammates in 1963 and 1964, Ron Hunt — according to some veteran players of the time, Hunt seemed to rub the veterans the wrong way, especially those on other teams. Do you remember Hunt's aggressive play (or anything else in his style) being unnecessarily abrasive, either to his opponents or to his teammates?

2) It has been suggested that his penchant for getting hit by pitches is only partly due to his crowding the plate. (Implied: Is there anything to this?)

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Zvon asks:

Thank you very much, Mr Thomas, for coming here and sharing your words with us. That book goes on my Xmas list.

Your Met days just a tad before I started following the game, but I was very well aware of your being the Mets single season home run king when I became a Met fan. I never realized you led NY in homers that year though.

I also loved when Flushing Meadows was the home of the 64/65 Worlds Fair. Still have the old home movies. Good times.

My questions would be

1) What size bat did you use? and

2) Who manufactured it?

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Edgy DC asks:

1) Did the Mets assign you number 25 on their own, or did you request it? (If so, why 25?)

2) Did you wear 25 before or after your Mets tenure?

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Frayed Knot asks:

Hi Frank T. Thanks for taking the time to "talk" to us.

1) There's been an increased interest in recent years in a more in-depth anaysis of baseball statistics. While you were playing, which of your own stats were you consistently aware of and paying attention to, and do you know if there were any particular ones that the club was tracking in order to measure your worth?

---

Edgy DC asks:

Having read some of your book, Mr. Thomas, a few more questions regarding race in baseball occur.

1) You describe going to Forbes Field in your childhood, not just to see the Pirates, but also to see the almost legendary Homestead Grays teams. Understanding that a child may not notice what an adult notices, can you tell us what was the atmosphere like at the Grays games, and how it differed from that at the Pirates games? Did the black and white patrons sit in the same sections? Approximately what percentage of the crowd was black and what percentage white?

2) Also, having seen Josh Gibson as a child, can you compare him as a hitter and a catcher to the stars you would go on to play with and against as a big league player?

3) Lastly, your legacy is mostly linked to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Have you continued to follow the team? What is your opinion on the current state of the team — how they've been disadvantaged in part by the latter-day state of baseball economics; and how they've attempted to revitalize their presence with the new stadium? Have you been back much to see the team at Three Rivers Stadium or PNC Park?

Thanks again.

[Guest FrankThomas]

Valadius wrote: What was the atmosphere like on those early Mets teams?

New York was a National League town, and they were hungry for baseball. Getting the Mets and Casey Stengel -- well, the new Mets fans took to us like we were pennant winners already. They just loved us. No matter what we did on the field, they came out in droves and cheered us on. The atmosphere was electric from the very beginning, so much so that there was even excitement in the exhibition season of 1962. There was tension higher than what existed in most regular season games when we first faced-off against the Yankees down in St. Petersburg. It was the first time Casey faced his old team since they had forced him to retire following the 1960 season, so we really wanted to win that game for him. In a game about as thrilling as possible for an exhibition contest, we rallied in the 9th inning to beat the Yanks. That combined with our veteran-stacked lineup gave some people the idea that we would do fairly well in 1962, but Casey didn't buy into it. Pointing to one of our high-priced veterans, one day he told reporters, "Look at that guy. He can't hit, he can't run, and he can't throw. Of course, that's why they gave him to us." Despite Casey's realistic view of our team's ability, the players were all enthusiastic. Veterans, like me, wanted to prove they could still perform, and the young guys wanted to prove they belonged in the big leagues. No kid displayed that better than Rod Kanehl. After being buried for years in the Yankees farm system, he finally got a shot in the majors with the 1962 Mets. Rod wasn't gifted with natural talent, but he hustled and did all the fundamental things very well. The early Mets were filled with great on-field effort, we just couldn't parlay that into very many wins.

Valadius wrote: Who, throughout your career, was your favorite teammate and why?

I really can't say who my favorite teammate was. I was friends with everybody. I was the kind of guy who didn't feel like you had to go to dinner or a movie with me to be pals, I just enjoyed the practice, game and travel camaraderie of all my teammates. A few guys that I have remained closest to are Bob Purkey, Vern Law and Bob Friend from Pittsburgh. I enjoyed Ernie Banks in Chicago, Frank Robinson in Cincinnati, Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron in Milwaukee. I liked all my roommates with the Mets -- Ed Kranepool, Jim Hickman and Richie Ashburn. They were all good guys who were easy to room with.

[Guest FrankThomas]

G-Fafif wrote: When the Mets presented their Ten Greatest Moments in 2000 as voted by the fans, the founding of the Mets was voted No. 10 and you were introduced to the crowd to represent the '62 Mets. What did it mean to you that almost 40 years later the fans remembered that team and what did it mean to you to be their standard-bearer and receive their (our) applause?

It was quite an honor to represent the 1962 Mets that day. I was very happy and grateful they picked me. It doesn't matter to me whether I receive accolades immediately after an achievement or 40 years later, either way I've just always enjoyed being respected for what I did on the baseball field. I'd also like to believe that I was chosen in part for what I've done off the field, too. I always gave back to the community. It's something I've always felt was worthwhile to do and I got a lot of satisfaction in helping others less fortunate than myself.

[Guest FrankThomas]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Hi and thanks for coming by! What kind of player was Elio Chacon? In retrospect, the numbers suggest he was probably a better player than his successor and/or his opportunities with the Mets showed.

Elio was a good little infielder. Very quick. He struggled with the language barrier, though, like a lot of the Puerto Rican players of that time, but even a negative like that resulted in a positive -- a funny story. Elio's well-known shortcomings with the English language spawned Richie Ashburn's legendary "Yo la tengo" banquet story. In nutshell, Richie used to say that he and Elio would often collide often while chasing shallow pop-ups because Chacon didn't understand Richie's English call of "I got it!" So Richie learned how to say "Yo la tengo!", Spanish for "I got it!" The first opportunity Richie had to use his new Spanish phrase it worked perfectly as Elio peeled away. Richie's story ended, however, with me running over Ashburn because I didn't understand Spanish. In my book I mentioned the story and stated that I thought Richie made the whole thing up for its comic appeal, but I recently found photographic evidence that may now support Ashburn's story. While going through some old boxes of photos I found one of me helping Richie off the field after a collision. Richie is holding his head and I have my arm around his shoulders, and a very sympathetic look on my face. There's no date or caption on the photo, so I can't completely say that it confirms Richie's story, but it definitely adds credibility to his tale. I haven't examined Chacon's numbers against the guys that came after him, but it doesn't surprise me to hear that he holds up well under that kind of comparison. One of my most vivid recollections of Elio is not how he could turn the double-play, though, it's the time he got in a fight with Willie Mays. Roger Craig tried to pick Mays off at second. In the blink of an eye Chacon was raining punches down on Mays. Chacon, who gave up a couple of inches and maybe 20 pounds to Mays, was no match for Willie, who picked up Elio and threw him to the ground like a rag doll. A brawl ensued and Elio was fined, but he said that Willie had spiked him on the pickoff attempt. He even went as far to say that Mays would spike him whenever he had the opportunity.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: The Mets are famous for their third-base experiments. Who was the better third baseman -- you or Jim Hickman?

I really can't say which of us was the better third baseman. Jim Hickman and I were both outfielders who came in to play the infield to help the team, so there are often some drawbacks to that type of scenario. To come in to play the infield you have to learn a lot of new things. I used to take 150 ground balls a day in order to improve myself there, and for the most part I feel like I did a good job. Hickman was a youngster with a lot of potential in 1962, and he did a good job for us in the outfield. He struck out a lot and made occasional errors in the field for which the fans sometimes got on him, so it was tough on Jim because he was only 25 or so years old. Casey tried to nudge him to improve with some not-so-subtle hints in the dugout, and it would get to Jim, but Casey was just trying to help him develop. I think Casey's methodology eventually got through to Jim because he went on to a nice career.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: As a hitter, who among the Mets' starting pitchers of 1962 and 1963 would you consider the most difficult to face? Why?

I think I'd have to say Roger Craig and Al Jackson were our toughest pitchers on the 1962-63 Mets staff. Even though they both lost 20 games in 1962, they both had good stuff. It was just an error here, a base-running mistake there, throwing to the wrong base -- those types of things would go against them even though they were pitching well. Fluke plays, too, like a ball hitting a runner sliding into third base and then the guy gets up and scores a run. It always seems like those bad things happened to them in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: The Mets brought along a number of promising but very young pitchers in the early years, especially by 64 -- Bearnarth, Locke, Kroll, Hinsley, etc. Whom do you recall as the most impressive young pitchers on these teams?

I would say that of the guys you mentioned Larry Bearnarth would definitely qualify as one of our younger pitchers who really had great stuff. He threw the ball hard and had a very good sinker-ball. He was big, about 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. Casey used to call him "Big Ben".

[Guest FrankThomas]

="Zvon"]wowzers. Frank Thomas! This is the koolest. Thank you very much Mr Thomas for coming here and sharing your words with us. That book goes on my Xmas list. Your Met days just a tad before I started following the game, but I was very well aware of your being the Mets single season home run king when I became a Met fan. I never realized you led NY in homers that year though. I also loved when Flushing Meadows was the home of the 64/65 Worlds Fair. Still have the old home movies. Good times. my question would be what size bat did you use? and who manufactured it? Thanks for the kind words. I hit with a Louisville Slugger. I would start the season with a 35-ounce/35-inch bat and then downsize it as the season progressed. By the time the season ended I might be hitting with a 33-inch/32-ounce bat.

[Guest FrankThomas]

Bret Sabermetric wrote: Hello, Mr. Thomas. I'm another fan who saw you play. I'm curious about your memories of one of your teammates in 1963 and 1964, Ron Hunt--according to some veteran players of the time, Hunt seemed to rub the veterans the wrong way, especially those on other teams. Do you remember Hunt's aggressive play (or anything else in his style) being unnecessarily abrasive, either to his opponents or to his teammates? It has been suggested that his penchant for getting hit by pitches is only partly due to his crowding the plate. I don't recall anything negative about Ron Hunt's style of play or demeanor. Hunt played hard and wanted to win, a lot like Ty Cobb or Pete Rose. It's true that those types bothered some players, but not me. From the outside looking in, you might get the impression that his style might rub people the wrong way, but I admired his tenacity and toughness on the field. He really helped solidify second base for us in 1963, and he delivered at the plate, too. As for his penchant for getting hit by pitches, you're right, it was only partly due to his crowding the plate. Ron definitely would occasionally dive into pitches to "take one for the team". In terms of Ron's personality, I found him to be a pretty nice guy.

[Guest FrankThomas]

Edgy DC wrote: Did the Mets assign you number 25 on their own, or did you request it? Did you wear 25 before or after your Mets tenure? When I joined the Mets I had no preference for any particular uniform number, so they just assigned me number 25. I'd worn number 15 for most of my career with the Pirates, and that carried over to my year with the Reds. The Cubs assigned me number 25 when I joined them in 1960, but I wore number 12 with the 1961 Braves. I wasn't really hung up on what number I wore, but maybe the Mets assigned me number 25 because I had worn it recently in Chicago. Just guessing there, though.

[Guest FrankThomas]

Edgy DC wrote: Wow! That was unexpected. Thanks, Mr. Thomas. For anyone interested, I highly recommend Kiss It Goodbye, which can be ordered here. I've only been reading it the last few nights as I nod off to sleep, but it's incredibly comprehensive and minutely indexed for researchers of this great era of baseball history. (You may need a magnifying glass for that index.) Great cover also. Mr. Thomas, several questions exist already for you in this thread. While I'm sure many answers can be found in your book, we'd apprecate any answers you can post here.

Thanks for the great endorsement!

[Guest FrankThomas]

="Zvon"]I really thought this was gonna be about the current Frank Thomas, or I would have left my card earlier. I think that pic was lifted right off his Topps card cuz I couldnt find a decent color one.

Nice creation -- I'll add it to my collection.

[Guest FrankThomas]

KC wrote: Wow! Welcome and thanks for joining us.

My pleasure -- thanks for having me.

[Guest FrankThomas]

MFS62 wrote: Welcome, Frank. My screen name stands for Mets Fan Since 1962, so I saw you play. I'm sure my fellow Mets fans join me in saying that we are very glad to see you here. I usually ask new members to get up on that virtual table in the middle of the room and sing their school fight song. But in your esteemed case, I gladly make an exception. Later

Thanks for the welcome -- and for waiving the fight song requirement.

[Guest FrankThomas]

Centerfield wrote: Wow! Frank Thomas! Awesome! (I hope to be able to add something a little more eloquent when I calm down)

My pleasure to join you -- thanks.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Frank Thomas, ladies and gentlemen.

http://www.mbtn.net/applause.gifhttp://www.mbtn.net/applause.gifhttp://www.mbtn.net/applause.gifhttp://www.mbtn.net/applause.gifhttp://www.mbtn.net/applause.gifhttp://www.mbtn.net/applause.gifhttp://www.mbtn.net/applause.gifhttp://www.mbtn.net/applause.gifhttp://www.mbtn.net/applause.gif

The balcony is going nuts!

[Guest Edgy DC]

A couple of questions that were posted late, in case you're up for an encore:

Frayed Knot asks:

Hi Frank T. Thanks for taking the time to "talk" to us.

1) There's been an increased interest in recent years in a more in-depth anaysis of baseball statistics. While you were playing, which of your own stats were you consistently aware of and paying attention to, and do you know if there were any particular ones that the club was tracking in order to measure your worth?

---

Edgy DC asks:

Having read some of your book, Mr. Thomas, a few more questions regarding race in baseball occur.

1) You describe going to Forbes Field in your childhood, not just to see the Pirates, but also to see the almost legendary Homestead Grays teams. Understanding that a child may not notice what an adult notices, can you tell us what was the atmosphere like at the Grays games, and how it differed from that at the Pirates games? Did the black and white patrons sit in the same sections? Approximately what percentage of the crowd was black and what percentage white?

2) Also, having seen Josh Gibson as a child, can you compare him as a hitter and a catcher to the stars you would go on to play with and against as a big league player?

3) Lastly, your legacy is mostly linked to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Have you continued to follow the team? What is your opinion on the current state of the team — how they've been disadvantaged in part by the latter-day state of baseball economics; and how they've attempted to revitalize their presence with the new stadium? Have you been back much to see the team at Three Rivers Stadium or PNC Park?

Thanks again.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Thanks Frank!

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Thank you, Mr. Thomas!

[Zvon]

Thanks again Mr Thomas.

This has been informative and special.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I had hoped that Mr. Thomas would periodically drop by to offer insights and stories into his time as a major leaguer. It was great of him to answer our many questions once again.