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 Who's on first? Indians' Thome steps into the All-Star spotlight
Posted: Wednesday July 01, 1998 07:31 PM
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Jim Thome steps into the batter's box with red socks hiked to his knees and helmet smudged with pine tar. A country tune plays in the background, something about "Jim Dandy" coming to the rescue. Invariably, he does. And in only his second season at a highly competitive position, the Cleveland Indians first baseman has overshadowed Frank Thomas, Mo Vaughn and Rafael Palmeiro to earn his first start in the All-Star game. "It's a great honor," said Thome, who beat New York's Tino Martinez by 199,879 votes for the starting spot. "All those guys are great players, and just to be mentioned with them is special." It is not so surprising to Mark McGwire, the St. Louis first baseman who will start at first for the National League on Tuesday at Coors Field in Denver. "Thome is an outstanding player. One of the best," said McGwire, who receives a 12-pack of beer from Thome every time he comes to Jacobs Field and dents the scoreboard. "It blows my mind some of the things he does with the bat." To out-homer him is harder still. This is what Thome did Thursday night: McGwire, leading the majors with 37 homers, hit a 461-foot blast off a steel support beam attached to the left-field scoreboard at the Jake. Thome answered with two homers totaling 830 feet. It was Thome's second two-homer game in less than a week, the other coming against the Yankees. "He's huge," Indians manager Mike Hargrove said. "He's a man-child. Jimmy's got that raw strength that people get on a farm, not in a weight room." Thome, clearly the leader of the defending AL champions at only 27, is leery of the farmboy label. His hometown of Peoria, Illinois, is not so much hayseed heaven as small-town, urban America. Thome is like Peoria in that respect -- a little bit country, some rock 'n' roll thrown in, plus a quiet, self-deprecating demeanor. Thome credits former teammate Albert Belle for teaching him much of what he knows about hitting. He complimented the White Sox slugger when he passed him recently for the career homer lead at Jacobs Field. Thome has 72. "I take that as a great honor," Thome said. "Albert was a great hitter." At third base, Thome figured to be an AL All-Star for a decade or more. He vastly improved his defense from 1995 to '96. Once he learned to hit lefties, he could have dominated the position the way Al Rosen or George Brett once did. But the Indians asked Thome to move across the diamond last season. General manager John Hart had to acquire Gold Glove third baseman Matt Williams because he knew he couldn't resign Belle. First, he asked Thome if he would consider moving. Thome obliged, even though he knew how tough it would be to measure up to Thomas, Vaughn and Palmeiro. What happened? Thome had the best offensive year of his career with 40 homers, 120 RBIs, 120 walks and 104 runs. He became the first left-handed hitter in the AL since Carl Yastrzemski in 1970 -- the year Thome was born -- to have 40 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 walks. AL manager Joe Torre picked Thome as an All-Star reserve after an injured David Justice pulled out. With his classic, left-handed swing, Thome is on his way to an even better season -- .332 with 21 homers and 68 RBIs going into Wednesday night's game in Milwaukee. And he no longer sits against left-handed pitching, the way he did in the '95 World Series and '97 playoffs against Baltimore. "It blows my mind the way he hits and hits for power and they don't play him in the playoffs and the World Series," McGwire said. "I hope this year, they do it. Maybe they can win a World Series."
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