Jim Thome moves into tie for 7th on all time MLB home run list

[Da Coach]

Jim Thome hit a pinch hit 9th inning walk-off home run tonight for the Philadelphia Phillies to lead them to a 7-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
It was Jim's 5th of the season, and 609th of his career. He moved into a tie with Sammy Sosa for the 7th most HRs in MLB history with 609.

It was also Jim's 13th recorded walk-off home run, the most ever in MLB history.

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/45615/thomes-historic-blast-is-a-game-winner

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/story/2012-06-23/jim-thome-walk-off-home-run-phillies-beat-rays/55786094/1

Box score-

http://content.usatoday.com/sportsdata/baseball/mlb/game/Rays_Phillies/2012/6/23#box-score

Here is the list of top HR hitters in MLB history (it has not been updated with Jim's 609th HR as of the time of this post)-

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HR_career.shtml

It would be nice to see Jim catch the #6 HR hitter Ken Griffey Jr., who has 630, but that might be a long shot playing for a NL team without the use of the DH. The only player on the list that would appear to have a chance to move into the top 10 or catch Jim is Albert Pujols who is just 32 years old and currently sits at #34 with 456 HRs.

[tornado]

but now that Albert has to face the far tougher American League pitching and defenses, he has been reduced to a rather average player -

[Braves4Life]

but now that Albert has to face the far tougher American League pitching and defenses, he has been reduced to a rather average player -

... or is he really older than has always been claimed?

[LittleBrave]

... or is he really older than has always been claimed?

Well he'd sure better find a young pill, as he's got 9 1/2 more seasons left in his contract with the Angels, which I just don't get the logic in that.

[Da Coach]

Well he'd sure better find a young pill, as he's got 9 1/2 more seasons left in his contract with the Angels, which I just don't get the logic in that.

I agree...a bit of a risk for the Angels. They give those kinds of contracts in the NHL to get around the NHL salary cap rules since they only count year by year salaries, so teams just spread them out over more years than the player is capable of playing. But to give 10 years to a MLB player Albert's age is crazy.

[LittleBrave]

I agree...a bit of a risk for the Angels. They give those kinds of contracts in the NHL to get around the NHL salary cap rules since they only count year by year salaries, so teams just spread them out over more years than the player is capable of playing. But to give 10 years to a MLB player Albert's age is crazy.

o.k. - that makes more sense knowing that it could be related to the salary cap. I'm just wondering what happens if AP can't play much 2-3 years from now due to injury or just plain now having it anymore.

[Chico]

I hope Jimmie hits many more, but the next one is the big one. Puts him ahead of Corky.

[Da Coach]

Jim Thome finally passed Sammy Sosa to move into 7th place by himself with his 610th HR Friday night-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/bal-jim-thome-passes-sammy-sosa-for-7th-on-all-time-home-run-list-20120720,0,7413720.story

[SFP]

He's hitting pretty well for the O's right now I bet he's also a great club house mentor!

[Da Coach]

Jim Thome is one of the 2013 MLB free agents still on the market, and now there appears to be interest from one of his former teams. He has said he is in great condition and wants to play another season. Now the Minnesota Twins are interested.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/03/twins-had-interest-in-jim-thome.html

Jim Played half the year last year with the Phillies, and the last half with the Orioles. He had a total of 8 HRs in 163 at bats, and has a total of 612 career HRs to rank 7th all time-

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HR_career.shtml

[tornado]

This story made me think about Jim Thome and the really GOOD guys & Hall of Famers there are in baseball..

Ken Griffey, Jr. buys front row seats at a Wichita State game for a guy who was robbed..

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/ken-griffey-jr-calls-fan-kansas-had-items-045949906--mlb.html

(this link also has the Chris Roberts link that was pretty much posted here before just about anywhere else - at the bottom)