Cleveland Indians: Jim Thome elected to Hall of Fame

It’s Hall of Fame election day, and former Cleveland Indians great Jim Thome has received his call. This is part of a large class that’s been elected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Coming into the announcement, Thome was polling at 93.4% of the approximately 250 ballots made public. Thome only needed 75% of the vote to be inducted. Once the results were revealed, Thome finished with 89.8% of the total vote.

Thome made his big league debut with the Indians in 1991 as a 21 year old rookie. Thome didn’t break out until 1995, when he belted 25 homers with a .314/.438/.558 slash line. After that, Thome never looked back. He drove in over 100 runs in nine of the next 11 seasons, hitting at least 30 homers in each of those healthy seasons.

His final season in his first stint in Cleveland was in 2002, when he smashed 52 homers, drove in 118 RBIs, drew 122 walks, and batted .304/.445/.677. He did all of that and only finished 7th in MVP voting. He spent his first 12 seasons in an Indians uniform and retired as a member of the Tribe in 2014, after signing a one-day contract.

Thome was a five-time All Star, three of those appearances came as a member of the Cleveland Indians. Although he was never an MVP, he finished in the top 10 of MVP voting four times over the course of his career, including a fourth place finish in 2003 with the Phillies.

Thome’s career stats

Thome finished his career with 612 home runs, 1,699 RBIs, a .276 average, and a .956 OPS. Thome currently sits 8th all-time in home runs, with Angels 1B/DH Albert Pujols passing him last season.

He was the epitome of a “three true outcomes” player. He drew 1,747 walks over his career, good for seventh all-time, including leading the American League three times. He also led the league in strikeouts three times, finishing with 2,548 strikeouts, the second most of all time. Thome finished 13 separate seasons in the top 10 in strikeouts and walks. But he also finished top 10 in home runs nine times.

In the postseason, Thome finished with 17 homers in 71 games. Six of those home runs came in the 1998 playoffs, with four of them in the ALCS against the Yankees. He also blasted four homers in the 1999 ALDS against the Red Sox with 10 RBIs in the five game series.

The Cleveland Indians have six retired numbers. Earl Averill‘s #3, Lou Boudreau‘s #5, Larry Doby‘s #14, Mel Harder‘s #18, Bob Feller‘s #19, and Bob Lemon‘s #21 are all untouchable, along with Jackie Robinson‘s #42. Jim Thome’s #25 figures to join that group fairly soon.

The Hall of Fame class

Thome is joined by Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, and Trevor Hoffman in this very large 2018 Hall of Fame class. Morris and Trammell were elected by way of the Veterans Committee. Thome and Jones made it in their first year on the ballot. Thome and his fellow inductees will be enshrined on Sunday July 29th.

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With such a large class getting elected, perhaps this will allow BBWAA writers to elect other deserving candidates in coming years that get left behind due to the 10 player limit.