Where would the Twins be without slugger Jim Thome?
[picappgallerysingle id="9415697"]Where would the Minnesota Twins be without monster hitter Jim Thome? Well, most likely in a losing series with the Cleveland Indians, for starters. Jim Thome’s solo home run in the 12th (you read that right) inning last night at Progressive Field secured the 1-0 win for the Minnesota Twins, and restored them to a six-game lead in the AL Central division.
Jim Thome’s solo home run was even more potent than the only extra-bases hit in the entire Twins-Indians game last night; it was also Thome’s 587th home run, locking him into eighth place on the all time home run list in his own right.
In a season when the Minnesota Twins’ best slugger, Justin Morneau, has been crippled with a concussion that has all but taken him out of the season for good, the Twins needed a player to step up and make some huge hits.
I’m not sure the Twins expected that it would be Jim Thome, but it turns out that Thome has been the man to do it.
Thome has had help from his teammates, certainly: Michael Cuddyer’s been terrific at first base; Joe Mauer hasn’t been hitting for power, but he’s certainly been hitting; Jason Kubel has been a force at the plate; and J.J. Hardy, Orlando Hudson, and Danny Valencia have all been strong offensively (as well as defensively).
There have been a few comparisons between Jim Thome and Babe Ruth lately – one by Twins manager Ron Gardenhire himself – and I understand why. Thome has kind of an old-school baseball charm about him, and he creates the same kind of excitement with the fans that I’m sure guys like Ruth did. Thome might not be quite as skilled as Babe Ruth was, but the guy is something else.
And I think the Minnesota Twins would be in a whole lot of trouble without him.
So, here’s a question: what are the Minnesota Twins going to do about next season? Will they sign Jim Thome to another year? Or is some other team going to swoop in and offer Thome a pile of money to play for them, given his success this season for the Twins? Should the Twins try to sign Thome before that happens, if possible?
Something to think about, anyway.
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[...] No, probably not. Would a rusty Morneau be helpful to the Twins when you’d have to sub out either Jim Thome or Jason Kubel to make room for Morneau in the lineup? I don’t know about that. The Twins need [...]
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