Happy Homecoming

I can still remember the night I got the phone call. I was at work, the night before Thanksgiving when Silvio called me.

"You guys got Thome."

Being how Silvio is a Cubs fan my immediate thought was, "BS."

"We got what? How?!"

"You guys traded Rowand and some minor leaguers for Jim Thome."

My feelings were being yanked in every direction. The first thing I felt was the sting of losing Aaron Rowand. Aaron was one of my favorite players, and a cult figure on the South Side of Chicago among White Sox fans.

My other feeling was, "Holy shit we got Jim Thome!!!"

"If he's healthy...."

"You guys are gonna kill people."

See I was all too familiar with the Peoria, Illinois native. Since about 1994 I had the distinct pleasure, along with all White Sox fans, of seeing Jim Thome terrorize us and anyone else in our division. Back then when Thome was walking to the plate it was more "Oh shit here comes Jim Thome."

If it was a critical point in the game against the Indians, and Thome was coming to the plate you could already see the vapor trail from his inevitable 450 foot blast. When he finally left after 2002 there was a collective sigh on the South Side of Chicago. He was gone to the National League, unable to abuse us anymore.

The Sox fan in me was ecstatic, though the baseball fan was saddened. Even though he killed us, there were few players then I enjoyed watching hit more than Jim Thome.

Now he was going to be a White Sox. At the time of the trade it also presented a relief to the Paul Konerko situation. Konerko was still a free agent at the time and being courted hard by the Angels. Before the Sox sent Paulie out to see what he was worth Konerko and Sox GM Kenny Williams discussed what Paul would need to come back.

"Protection."

Kenny got the ultimate protection for Konerko, and at a bargain price. Yes Aaron Rowand's defense is going to be missed, but Thome's bat makes up for it. Also Williams was able to get the Phillies to pay $16 million of the $22 million left on Thome's contract.

That's like going to your favorite bar to find out that it's 10 cent bottles night on your favorite beer.

Of course the big question mark on the trade was Jimmy's health. I was worried about it too, but I was also confused. People were talking about Thome like he was always injured. I never remembered him being hurt before last season. In fact besides a few common injuries that baseball players are going to get over the course of a 162 game season, Thome never did get hurt.

2005 was a horrible year for Thome. He only hit 7 home runs in 59 games due to the problems with his elbow and back. In the 11 seasons before then though, Thome was a beast.

From 1994-2004 Thome averaged 38 HR and 102 RBI. His worst season was in 1994 when he hit .268 with 20 HR and 52 RBI. Of course he only played in little over 90 games that season for the Indians thanks to the players union strike.

Thome's Career Statistics

Then spring training rolled around and Thome started slow. He didn't have any home runs, but he was healthy. Then he had some hamstring problems and took about a week off. I was a little worried about him, but it wasn't his elbow or back, so I wasn't that concerned.

Then in the last week of the season Thome returned to play the last 7 games of spring training. In those 7 games he hit 8 home runs. It was incredible. Nothing had changed from the Jim Thome I grew up with.

If you threw it anywhere near the plate he was going to crush it. Pitchers had absolutely no chance.

NO CHANCE.

Of course my initial thought was "Great. He's hitting em all now when they don't count." Then i realized that he was getting his swing right at the absolute right time.

Then on Opening Night at US Cellular against his old mates, the Cleveland Indians, Thome hit a 455 foot home run in his very first at bat as a Chicago White Sox. I was as giddy as a schoolgirl. I practically developed a crush on the man.

Thome watches his first homer in Chicago drive through the rain

Even as the White Sox would struggle losing 4 games in a row, Thome kept hitting home runs. Now he has homered in the last 4 games, and not coincedentally, the White Sox have won all 4 and are back above .500 (5-4).

After he helped lead the way on a White Sox sweep in Detroit this week, you get the feelings Tiger pitchers are going to be screaming "Thome!!" in their sleep for a while. If nothing else new Tiger skipper Jim Leyland was impressed.

"He looks very healthy and strong to me," Leyland said. "Not having to go out on defense will be a big help for him during the year."

The start Thome has had is a surprise to everyone I'm sure. After 9 games Thome's stat line looks insane.

.379 (11-29) 6 HR, 10 RBI, 12 runs(He's the ONLY Major Leaguer to have scored a run in every game this season), 3 doubles, 10 walks, 2 hit-by-pitch, a .561 on base percentage, and he's slugging 1.103%.

He has 6 home runs in 9 games. He had all of 7 in 59 last season. If you include the last week of spring training he has 14 home runs in his last 16 games. That is absolutely phenomenal.

"We knew exactly what we were getting when we got him, which you can't say very often,'' said White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker, "I've been a big fan of his -- first of all, his career -- but his swing mechanics. We've used him to teach off of the last few years, for our righties and lefties. We'd bring up at-bats of his and show hitters, 'This is what we're talking about.' So we already knew his swing pretty well.''

You look around baseball right now and balls are flying out of parks. If the league keeps using these juiced balls it's not crazy to think that someone will break Bonds 73 HR mark this year. Of course looking at the guys in the AL right now, the three hottest are Thome, Cleveland's Travis Hafner (aka Thome Jr.), and Detroit's Chris Shelton. Now Shelton I think we can safely assume will not keep his current pace. Hafner could easily hit 50 though, and Thome with a juiced ball could hit 80. Especially playing 81 games at US Cellular which is very friendly for left handed power hitters. (How many do you think Thome will hit? Answer the poll on the right of the page.)

Over the last 4 games the White Sox have looked more like the team from 2005 than they did in the first week of the season. With the starting rotation staying strong, and Jim Thome threatening the lives of anyone in a bleacher seat, the White Sox still have to be considered the favorite to win the World Series.

Cleveland started real hot, but have now lost 2 in a row at home to Seattle and only lead the White Sox by a game. The trendy pick, Oakland, is only 5-5 and having problems. The Yankees still have a questionable starting rotation, and the Red Sox have arm issues as well.

The White Sox though are very hot and about to start a 9 game home stand. Last year the Sox ripped off a number of 8 game win streaks, and seemed poise to get another long one going now. If things go well on this homestand the Sox could have a 3 or 4 game lead by the time it's over.

Thome has come back to many a happy dugout so far this season

And it's all Jim Thome right now. Before Thursday's 13-9 victory in Detroit the White Sox entered the game with the lowest batting average in the American League, yet they were averaging 4.6 runs a game. Once the rest of the offense finds it's swing this team will devestate opposing pitchers.

And it's all because of one man.

Jim Thome.

Welcome home Jimmy. Take off your shoes and stay a while.


RANDOM THOUGHTS

• Barry Bonds is in some real trouble now. I'm still torn on this whole thing. I don't like Bonds, but I also think it's crap that he's the only one they're going after. There's probably about 100 guys(AT LEAST!!! Probably more like 200) who were on steroids, but since he was the best hitter of them to start with, he's the one we'll crucify.
• USC running back Lendale White has torn his hamstring. What this will do to his draft stock we can't be too sure of yet, but I have a feeling a team with a late first round pick could get an absolute steal now. While Reggie Bush is more electrifying, I'm of the opinion that White will the better NFL running back.
• Word is the Bears are looking to sign Carolina cornerback Ricky Manning. The Panthers offered him a $700,000 deal which the Bears can easily outbid. Signing Manning would cost the Bears a third round pick, but Manning could start right away opposite Vasher allowing Tillman to move to safety. A position the Bears coaching staff thinks he could excel in. (By the way, when coaches say that they mean "He's too slow to play corner.")
• Carlos Zambrano has looked horrible on two occasions this year. Both have been against the Reds. With no Prior or Wood, and Glendon Rusch getting rocked, the Cubs can ill afford Big Z to struggle. Luckily for them Greg Maddux seems to have found the fountain of youth and has been outstanding so far.
• So maybe the Cubs could shore up their staff? Word is that the Marlins have already started shopping Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera. Maybe newly resigned GM Jim Hendry can right the wrong of trading Willis to begin with. He's already conned the Marlins out of Derrek Lee, might as well complete the deal. This would be a huge step in the "Get over Kerry Wood and Mark Prior" movement that needs to happen on the North Side.