"Old" guys representing! (Thome and Wakefield shot courtesy of Kelly O'Connor and used with permission)
Ken Rosenthal, who was kind enough to respond to me on Twitter regarding this subject, writes yesterday that we should care as much about Jim Thome’s 600th home run as we did Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit. Â In all honesty, I actually care more and I agree with what Rosenthal wrote.
The problem is, he’s part of the reason why many people didn’t care as much. Â How many people who follow baseball knew how close Thome was to 600 home runs? Â Heck, I only knew when the Red Sox were heading to Minnesota this last time because NESN promoted the series by mentioning how close he was to 600 and I consider myself a bit of a Thome fan. Â NESN. Â MY local sports station reminded me how close Thome was, not ESPN or MLB Network. Â THAT is the problem. Â Everyone under the sun couldn’t wait to brag on Jeter but Thome didn’t get the same treatment. Â Don’t tell us after the fact that “even though he didn’t play in New York” Thome’s milestone is one to be celebrated. Â I think plenty of baseball fans know this already.
There are 28 MLB players who have hit over 3000 hits. Â It’s definitely impressive to be part of that group. Â I take nothing away from Jeter for the accolades he has received. Â But there are only 8 players who have hit 600 home runs or more (to compare, 25 players are in the 500 home runs club). Â Players on the 600 list include Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds. Â Thome and Ken Griffey, Jr are the only present-day players on the list considered “clean” (which, admittedly, is kind of a ridiculous thing to mention since we have no real idea who was “clean” and who was just lucky to not be caught). Â What Jim Thome has accomplished is at least as important as what Jeter has accomplished and for the media to acknowledge this fact AFTER it has happened is frustrating.
Then again, I’m doing the same thing they all did, aren’t I?