Is Jim Thome a first ballot Hall of Famer?

[AngryAmish]

614? HR, led the league in walks three times.

The Sabers out there I suppose would say da, due to walks and total bases. On the nyet side is his time at DH and when he did play first he was a bit of a stiff.

What say ye?

[redstateblues]

1. He was never a dominant player in my book.

[VMA131Marine]

2. He should be ....

He should be just based on his 612 HR's. It's inconceivable he wouldn't get in.

[BeyondGeography]

3. Not a slam dunk IMO but I'd give it to him

Ridiculous amount of K's but he was over .400 OBP for his career and 600 dingers is an elusive milestone.

[First Speaker]

4. I'm not sure...

...I'd put him more on the level of Don Sutton, or Eddie Mathews...a very good player, a great one in his best seasons, whose counting stats make him an obvious Hall-of-Famer...but not what you think of when you hear "first ballot--Mays, Ruth, Maddox...those guys.

[AngryAmish]

6. People voted against both Rickey and Greg Maddux.

How could these people, who supposedly devote their lives to baseball, vote against Rickey and Greg Maddux?

My feeling is Thome is a borderline 1ballet guy. In the age of steroids, like Frank Thomas, he showed up huge. He may have been clean.

Also, everyone said he was about the nicest man in baseball. That goes far in the voting.

[rurallib]

5. OK I probably shouldn't comment as I don't watch baseball like I used to

But homeruns were pretty cheap in that era. Outside of the homers what else distinguished Thome?

He was not the kind of player that most fans came out specifically to see such as a Mays or a Musial or more recently a Pudge Rodriguez.

Just an opinion.

[True Dough]

7. If I were to cast a vote

I would gave Thome a spot in Cooperstown.

[Va Lefty]

8. Yes

600+ Hrs, no evidence of PEDs you go in the Hall

[FSogol]

9. From baseball reference, here's how he stacks up

He got MVP votes during 9 seasons and was an All Star 5 times.

Black Ink Batting - 13 (188), Average HOFer ≈ 27
Gray Ink Batting - 118 (174), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 156 (80), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 57 (48), Average HOFer ≈ 50
JAWS First Base (10th), 72.9 career WAR/41.5 7yr-peak WAR/57.2 JAWS
Average HOF 1B (out of 19) = 65.9 career WAR/42.5 7yr-peak WAR/54.2 JAWS

Similar Batters

Sammy Sosa (862)
Frank Thomas (854) *
Reggie Jackson (822) *
Ken Griffey (821) *
Mickey Mantle (820) *
Albert Pujols (817)
Mike Schmidt (817) *
Fred McGriff (813)
Willie McCovey (812) *
Manny Ramirez (810)

* - Signifies Hall of Famer

Conclusion, he'll get in, but probably not on the 1st ballot. If he did get in, he'd be the 10th best 1B in the hall.

Definition of how the stats were generated can be found here:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thomeji01.shtml

PS, Once I stupidly tried to barehand a line drive home run from him during batting practice. By the 2nd inning, my palm had swollen convexly to double its size.

[Dave Starsky]

10. Yes, he is. Of course.

I'm sorry. I misread your post. I thought you said Jim Thorpe.