justBLAZE Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Frank Thomas offers himself to White Sox — as hitting coach By Joe Cowley [email protected] October 24, 2011 10:36PM Chicago White Sox's Frank Thomas watches his home run in the fourth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, N.Y. on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003. (AP Photo/Bernie Nunez) Updated: October 25, 2011 2:10AM ARLINGTON, Texas — What do 521 home runs, 2,468 hits and a .301 career batting average get you these days? Not even a phone call. But Frank Thomas is willing to wait patiently and see if that changes. Before Game 5 of the World Series on Monday, Thomas — who is working the Fall Classic for MLB.com — said that not only could he be a hitting coach, he could be the hitting coach for the White Sox. But he doesn’t seem to be in their plans. ‘‘Of course I can be a hitting coach, but who knows if this is the right time for it or not,’’ Thomas said. ‘‘We’ll see later. [General manager] Kenny [Williams] and them, they’ve got their own plan going on. You heard all the names being mentioned. They’ve got their own clique, their own nucleus that they’ve been working with. Do I fit? Who knows. Bottom line is they’ll make the right decision they need to make.’’ Considering what Thomas did at the plate for 19 seasons — 16 with the Sox — tapping into his knowledge would seem to be a no-brainer. But not many people could hit the ball like Thomas. So how would he translate that to an average hitter? ‘‘No doubt I can look at the swings of other players and see things,’’ Thomas said. ‘‘My style was my style, but the bottom line is getting the hands in the right position, the body in the right position, putting your head on the ball and making a good swing. I don’t care if you’re two feet, one feet, hands up, hands down. You just have to get to that same spot and make it work.’’ Thomas came from the Walt Hriniak hitting school, where keeping your head on the ball was the emphasis. So was swinging down on the ball, which often meant taking the upper hand off the bat. Critics believed that took power away, but it never seemed to bother ‘‘The Big Hurt.’’ New Sox manager Robin Ventura also followed Hriniak’s philosophy, and a few hitters in his lineup could use some help. Thomas said he watched the awful seasons of Adam Dunn and Alex Rios and believes he could make a difference. ‘‘I think Adam will be back,’’ Thomas said. ‘‘Adam was done by the halfway point and just couldn’t get out of that funk mentally. But the guy hit 40 home runs for six straight years. You just don’t lose that overnight. His confidence is shaken, I’m sure, and he just has to be fixed. Time will fix it and a lot of hard work.’’ Whether that includes Thomas remains to be seen. But his phone is on. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...ting-coach.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Ugh, Cowley's vendetta against the White Sox FO continues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Embarassing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Gordo would benefit from that school of hitting though. Line drives should be his game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Before anyone jumps on Frank for this, after reading the article twice, it seems pretty clear that Cowley went to him and finagled an answer out of him and turned it into "Frank is asking to be the hitting coach and the Sox aren't listening." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleHurt05 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I don't always drink beer while I coach MLB hitting, but when I do, I drink Big Hurt beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 02:02 PM) Before anyone jumps on Frank for this, after reading the article twice, it seems pretty clear that Cowley went to him and finagled an answer out of him and turned it into "Frank is asking to be the hitting coach and the Sox aren't listening." Oh I agree with this 100000%. The agenda Joe has it what is embarrassing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soxfest Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 02:02 PM) Before anyone jumps on Frank for this, after reading the article twice, it seems pretty clear that Cowley went to him and finagled an answer out of him and turned it into "Frank is asking to be the hitting coach and the Sox aren't listening." I do not blame Big Hurt it is Cowley being Cowley! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 02:02 PM) Before anyone jumps on Frank for this, after reading the article twice, it seems pretty clear that Cowley went to him and finagled an answer out of him and turned it into "Frank is asking to be the hitting coach and the Sox aren't listening." Exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I was just afraid that someone was going to come in saying that Frank is being a prima donna and airing it in public to coerce the team into hiring him. I guess there's still time for somebody to make that argument. Marty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 02:23 PM) I was just afraid that someone was going to come in saying that Frank is being a prima donna and airing it in public to coerce the team into hiring him. I guess there's still time for somebody to make that argument. Marty? ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9347 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Anything that put Frank in a Sox uniform again would make me happy. If Big Mac can do it, then the Big Hurt could certainly do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 07:28 PM) Anything that put Frank in a Sox uniform again would make me happy. If Big Mac can do it, then the Big Hurt could certainly do it. How so? McGwire was always known as a great teammate. Frank...not so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 03:28 PM) Anything that put Frank in a Sox uniform again would make me happy. If Big Mac can do it, then the Big Hurt could certainly do it. My question for Frank would be more whether he wants to do it. It would take some severe personal sacrifices from him, including forcing him to a certain type of personality, to be effective at the job...and I really don't want to convince yet another person to take a job on this team's coaching staff just because. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFan1 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Please God no on Frank Thomas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogan873 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I agree that the article is nothing more than Cowley going to Frank Thomas and asking him if he could be the hitting coach for the Sox. What's Frank going to say? "No, I'm not cut out to be a hitting coach. I'd rather market my own beer." It's like if someone came to me and asked if I think I could be the department manager? Duh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9347 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 02:30 PM) How so? McGwire was always known as a great teammate. Frank...not so much In the history of coaching, no one who was an asshole was ever any good at it. Is this what I am to take from your point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9347 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Either way, I think daddy needs to pick up some more BHB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 03:37 PM) In the history of coaching, no one who was an asshole was ever any good at it. Is this what I am to take from your point? I would say that in this particular position, if the person were to come off as too much of an asshole, he would likely alienate several players and wind up failing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodAsGould Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 02:45 PM) I would say that in this particular position, if the person were to come off as too much of an asshole, he would likely alienate several players and wind up failing. Greg walker comes off as an asshole to me and everybody seems to love the guy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9347 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 02:45 PM) I would say that in this particular position, if the person were to come off as too much of an asshole, he would likely alienate several players and wind up failing. Yeah, but I would say, in this particular position, you really probably have no idea what Frank's coaching style will look like. Writing him off because he was sometimes distant or a prick 10-15 years ago when he was on top of the game is silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 If hitting coaches truly matter and I'm not sure they do, then Frank would be perfect. The man's style of hitting is my favorite of all time. He had great great patience at the plate. He hit home runs but he also hit line drives and smashed it to all fields. I would LOVE for him to be Sox hitting coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjshoe04 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 02:38 PM) Either way, I think daddy needs to pick up some more BHB. This. I've only got one left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 03:11 PM) If hitting coaches truly matter and I'm not sure they do, then Frank would be perfect. The man's style of hitting is my favorite of all time. He had great great patience at the plate. He hit home runs but he also hit line drives and smashed it to all fields. I would LOVE for him to be Sox hitting coach. He had a really good eye for balls and strikes and he hit with his back foot off the ground. The first thing isn't really something you can teach and the second thing isn't something you probably should teach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max power Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I could be the next hitting coach too. I'd be terrible at it, but I could be it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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