Thomas looks to continue revival in loaded Jays lineup

	Frank Thomas played just 108 games in 2004 and 2005 before erupting for 39 homers and 114 RBIs for Oakland last year. Chuck Solomon/SI
	One possible Jays lineup (2006 stats) Player Pos Stats Reed Johnson LF .319, .390 OBP Lyle Overbay 1B 22 HRs, 92 RBIs Vernon Wells CF .303, 32 HRs, 106 RBIs Frank Thomas DH 39 HRs, 114 RBIs* Troy Glaus 3B 38 HRs, 104 RBIs Alex Rios RF .302, 17 HRs, 82 RBIs Greg Zaun C .272, .363 OBP Aaron Hill 2B .291, .349 OBP Royce Clayton SS .258, 14 SBs+ * with A's + with Reds, Nationals
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DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Frank Thomas has been on some bad teams, and quite a few pretty good ones, and a couple of Octobers ago he stood off to the side of a clubhouse in street clothes, hobbled by a bum foot, and watched as the only big-league franchise he ever worked for celebrated an unlikely World Series win -- largely without him. Talk about a Big Hurt.

This is what Thomas sees around him this spring: A good team, maybe the most powerful he's ever been on in his 17-year career. An expectation for him, the American League's Comeback Player of the Year in 2006, to play a major role on it. The chance to reach 500 career homers. And the opportunity, once more, to stick it all in the face of his doubters.

Thomas, known throughout his career as Big Hurt, still has plenty to do in the game of baseball. He still has plenty to prove. At 38, emboldened with a new two-year contract from the Blue Jays and a lot of protection around him in arguably the most dangerous lineup in the league, Thomas aims to prove it all.

"I feel great. Coming here, knowing I have a lot to give ... I feel great," Thomas said earlier this week, relaxing in front of his locker at Knology Park in this Tampa Bay area beach town. "Everyone had written me off last year. So I'm like, 'I'm going to go ahead and just dominate.' I made up my mind that that's what I was going to do. And I did.

"They know now. They know. It's good to keep them quiet."

After his injury-ravaged '05 season, Thomas blasted 39 homers and drove in 114 runs last season as the new designated hitter for the A's. He used that comeback to sign a two-year, approximately $18 million contract with the Jays this winter, immediately making Toronto a team nobody will want to face. Not only do the Jays have some power pitching -- Roy Halladay, mainly, but A.J. Burnett, when he's healthy, and a good bullpen ending with bulldog closer B.J. Ryan -- but also they have a lineup that will make opposing pitchers blanche [see box].

Thomas has been on some very good hitting teams in his career. In 2000 with the Sox, Thomas cranked 43 homers and drove in 143 runs. Magglio Ordonez (32, 126), Jose Valentin (25, 92), Carlos Lee (24, 92) and Paul Konerko (21, 97) were on that team, too.

But the '06 Jays -- with Thomas, Vernon Wells, Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay and Alex Rios -- could be even better. And nobody realizes that more than Thomas.