finalyear debutyear statvalue finalteam width birth_date hofdate finaldate hofvote image statlabel debutteam name throws caption birth_place debutdate bats position article_title
2008 1990 .301 521 2,468 1,704 oakland athletics 250 27 may 1968 2014 august 29 83.7 % -lrb- first ballot -rrb- frank thomas 1997 crop.jpg batting average home runs hits runs batted in chicago white sox frank thomas right thomas with the white sox in 1997 columbus , georgia august 2 right first baseman / designated hitter frank thomas -lrb- designated hitter -rrb-

frank thomas -lrb- designated hitter -rrb-

frank edward thomas , jr. -lrb- born may 27 , 1968 -rrb- , nicknamed `` the big hurt , '' is an american former first baseman in major league baseball who played for three american league -lrb- al -rrb- teams from 1990 to 2008 , all but the last three years with the chicago white sox .
one of the most fearsome and devastating hitters of his era , he is the only player in major league history to have seven consecutive seasons -lrb- 1991 -- 1997 -rrb- with a .300 batting average and at least 100 runs batted in -lrb- rbi -rrb- , 100 runs scored , 100 walks and 20 home runs ; over that period , he batted .330 and averaged 36 home runs and 118 rbi per year .
a perennial mvp candidate through the 1990s , he was named the al 's most valuable player by unanimous vote in 1993 after becoming the first white sox player to hit 40 home runs , leading the team to a division title ; he repeated as mvp in the strike-shortened 1994 season after batting .353 and leading the league in slugging average and runs .
after two subpar seasons , he lost the mvp in a close vote in 2000 after posting career highs of 43 home runs and 143 rbi , also earning al comeback player of the year honors , as chicago finished with the al 's best record .
a five-time all-star , he won the al batting title with a .347 mark in 1997 , and enjoyed eleven seasons with 100 rbi and nine seasons each with a .300 average and 100 runs .
in his 30s , a variety of foot injuries and other minor ailments increasingly reduced his playing time and productivity , typically limiting him to a designated hitter role .
in 2005 , his final season in chicago , he helped the white sox to their first world series title in 88 years .
at the end of his career , he was tied for eighth in al history in home runs -lrb- 521 -rrb- , and was ninth in rbi -lrb- 1,704 -rrb- and sixth in walks -lrb- 1,667 -rrb- ; among players with at least 7,000 at bats in the al , he ranked eighth in slugging average -lrb- .555 -rrb- and ninth in on base percentage -lrb- .419 -rrb- .
with a .301 lifetime batting average , he became the seventh player in history to retire with a .300 average and 500 home runs .
he holds white sox franchise records for career home runs -lrb- 448 -rrb- , rbi -lrb- 1,465 -rrb- , runs -lrb- 1,327 -rrb- , doubles -lrb- 447 -rrb- , extra base hits , walks -lrb- 1,466 -rrb- , slugging average -lrb- .568 -rrb- and on base percentage -lrb- .427 -rrb- ; his team record of 3,949 career total bases was broken by paul konerko in 2014 .
thomas was one of the major stars who never fell under suspicion during the controversies over performance-enhancing drugs in the late 1990s , and was an advocate for drug testing as early as 1995 ; he was the only active player who agreed to be interviewed for the mitchell report in 2007 .
the white sox retired his uniform number 35 in 2010 , and unveiled a statue of him at u.s. cellular field in 2011 .
he is now a commentator for comcast sportsnet white sox broadcasts .
thomas was elected to the baseball hall of fame in 2014 in his first year of eligibility , becoming the first white sox star to achieve that distinction .
