Chicago White Sox legend great Frank Thomas has been called out in a book on Bo Jackson’s MLB career, in which he was described as a ‘selfish prick’ and a ”d*****bag’ by former teammates.
New York Times best seller, Jeff Perlman’s latest book, ‘The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson,’ praises the five-time all-star Thomas, calling him ‘one of the best players in the game’ but also ‘an intimidating presence who moped with the best of them,’ according to a snipped shared on Twitter from Jon Greenberg, of The Athletic.
Thomas would also refuse to bat if his name wasn’t high-up in the batting order. He would act petulant and treat the clubhouse like ‘garbage’.
‘Thomas was one of the best players in the game, but a selfish prick of a teammate.” Pearlman writes. ‘At 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, he was an intimidating presence who moped with the best of them. “Frank was a douchebag,” said one Chicago standout.
“I judge people by how they treat those they don’t need to be nice to. Frank treated the clubhouse guys like garbage.”
‘Just a baby,” said Lance Johnson. ‘That year the coaches decided they would hit Frank fifth to protect some guys in the lineup. He refused. Just said, straight up, he wouldn’t hit fourth or fifth. I heard that and thought, “There goes our shot at the World Series.” Because everyone would just pitch around him. Which they did.’
Thomas and Jackson played together for two seasons (in 1991 and 1993) and Pearlman had recalled ‘Bo’ calling his former teammate, who was 25 at the time, ‘the biggest enigma’.
‘Over the course of his first three season, Thomas learned (as Bo once had) that if you’re really good, and really big, and stomp all over people, no one will stand in your way. Jackson, however, endured none of it,’ Pearlman recalled.
‘Both men had played football and baseball at Auburn (not together) and Jackson knew Thomas well enough to regularly say, with authority, ”Frank, seriously, shut the f**k up.”’
Thomas won back-to-back MVPs in 1993 and 1994 and was a top-eight finisher nine times in his career. Even at age 38, he hit 39 home runs, drove in 114 runs, and finished in fourth place in the AL MVP vote. He was a career .301 hitter with a .974 OPS and 521 home runs. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 after spending time with the White Sox, Oakland A’s and Toronto Blue Jays.
Former Chicago White Sox first 1B and DH Frank Thomas. Photo courtsey of Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images
