ESPN Chicago: Reinsdorf: Put Thomas in HOF

Reinsdorf on the diamond…where Ray Liotta rules!

Saying it would be “a disgrace” if Frank Thomas was not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf called his former slugger one of the best right-handed hitters in the game.

“I never saw Joe Jackson, he was a little before my time,” Reinsdorf said by phone following Thomas’ retirement from baseball. “I started following baseball in 1945 and the only right-handed hitter I’ve seen since then that I would put in the same class as Frank is [Cardinals’ slugger] Albert Pujols. I can’t imagine he doesn’t get into the Hall of Fame right away.”

...As for Thomas’ legacy as a slugger never suspected of steroid use, Reinsdorf added, “He should have won a third MVP,” referring to 2000, when Thomas was edged out in the balloting by Jason Giambi, who later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs that season.

Reinsdorf addressed the criticism Thomas favored drawing a walk rather than trying to drive a runner in.

“That’s what they used to day about Ted Williams also,” he said. “He took a lot of walks but the fact is, if you’re swinging at bad pitches, you’re not as good a hitter. The thing about Frank that was amazing was that a player that size had the plate discipline he had.”