The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #58 Jim Thome

Blasting onto the last at #58 is Indians slugger Jim Thome. Thome’s career is marked by power, plate discipline, and more power. He joins Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth as the only three players in history with 600 career home runs and 1,700 career walks. He joins Bonds and Ruth as the only three players in history with 600 home runs and a .400 on-base percentage. He joins Bonds and Ruth as the only three players in history with at least 600 home runs, 1,650 walks, and 1,650 RBIs, and he joins Bonds, Ruth, and Ted Williams as the only four players in history with at least 1,740 career walks and at least a .554 slugging %. His 13.8 AB/HR mark is the 4th best in history and his 612 home runs are 8th on the all-time list. 

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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