Jim Thome
Jim Thome
James Howard "Jim" Thomeis a retired American baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1991 to 2012. He played for six different teams, most notably the Cleveland Indians during the 1990s and the Philadelphia Phillies in the early 2000s. A prolific power hitter, Thome hit 612 home runs during his career—the seventh-most all time—along with 2,328 hits, 1,699 runs batted in, and a .276 batting average. He was a member of five All-Star teams and won...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth27 August 1970
CountryUnited States of America
It's tough to strike out. Believe me. I hate striking out. It's no fun. It's embarrassing. But there really isn't anything I can do. It's just a part of my game.
You always want to get at-bats. You always want to contribute.
I've always enjoyed interleague play. It gives you a chance to see different clubs, to go to different places. It gives you a good chance to see where you are, where you stand with other teams.
I don't really like filling my brain with a lot of stuff.
Charisma's good every night. Something special is always about to happen. You've got to believe it.
My favorite thing to do is still to go back to Peoria, go to my cabin and hunt with the boys. This is a great lifestyle, don't get me wrong. But fun for me is going back with my buddies I grew up with.
Every player that plays for any organization, having great fans on your side every night is a great thing.
My family has loved Minnesota and that was one of the big reasons we decided to come back. For me, family decisions were a big part to coming back to the Twins.
You can't play forever.
We all make mistakes and sometimes you say things and you really don't realize what you're saying at that moment.
When do you know it's time to say, 'OK, that's it?' That is the most difficult part of any decision like that because you don't want to throw the 'R' word out there. I've mentioned it a couple times, but not in the sense that I'm doing it. That word is very fragile. We'll see.
This is a tremendous honor (winning the 2002 Roberto Clemente Award), to be considered in the same class as Roberto Clemente. He is a hero and role model for all of us who play the game and strive to be as good a player and person as he was.
I really do try hard to be a good teammate. I can't run very fast, but I try to always run hard. I may strike out a lot, but I try to walk to set up the guys who are hitting after me.
There's an inner feeling you get when you get in a situation to do well in a game. It's hard to explain.