Free Republic

There’s no better way to do it than the way Jim Thome did it Sunday afternoon. It was Jim Thome Bobblehead Day at the ballpark formerly known as Comiskey Park to begin with. It was the otherwise sunken White Sox coming back from a 7-1 deficit with a four-run seventh and a two-run bomb (by Danny Richar) in the eighth against struggling Los Angeles Angels setup man Scot Shields to set it up. And it was former longtime Angel attack dog Darin Erstad, now labouring for the club who manhandled them in the American League Championship Series two years ago,...

White Sox to deal Rowand for Phillies' Thome ESPN.com news services PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Phillies reached a preliminary agreement Wednesday to send Jim Thome and cash to the World Series champion Chicago White Sox for center fielder Aaron Rowand. The deal, first reported by ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney, is subject to the players passing physicals, the Phillies said. Thome, an oft-injured first baseman, is owed $43.5 million in the final three seasons of his contract. He hit .207 with seven homers and 30 RBI in just 193 at-bats last season and became expendable after the emergence of Ryan...

Union likely put pressure on Thome Former Indians star becomes just another greedy player By Mike Celizic Jim Thome is one of the good guys. Always was, always will be. And the shame of it is that a lot of people will never know or understand that, because, for them, he is now and forever just another greedy ballplayer. IF IT’S POSSIBLE to feel sorry for a guy who’s about to become nearly $90 million richer — before taxes and agents’ fees — that’s what I feel for Thome. He was in the position that most Americans dream of, standing...