Black Sox Blog

It didn’t take Frank Thomas long to make his mark on major league baseball. After being picked seventh overall in the 1989 draft after starring at Auburn University, Thomas made his major league debut on August 2, 1990. On that day, Thomas ended the game zero for four, but on his final at bat he hit into a fielders choice that scored Ivan Calderon. While he’d get his first RBI in that game, he’d have to wait until the next day to get his first major league hit, a two run triple to centerfield. It wasn’t until the end of August that Thomas hit his first career homerun. It was August 28 at the Metrodome.

For most of the season, Thomas was hitting well above .300 and had an OBP above .400. His OPS of .983 put him at a very impressive OPS+ of 177. He only hit seven homeruns, but as we know, those would eventually come. The oddest thing about his season was a negative. He finished with 44 walks and 54 strikeouts. While that’s a pretty impressive ratio, it wouldn’t be until 2001, over a decade later, that Frank Thomas ended a season with more strikeouts then walks.

It’s hard to nail down Thomas’ best game in 1990. He went three for five with two runs and an RBI on September 22 (his only three hit game of the season), and he drove in three runs on August 31. He had 17 multihit games and he had a thirteen game hitting streak in September.

Here’s a look at Frank Thomas’ numbers in 1990, courtesy of Lee Sinin’s Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia..

Games 60
AB 191
Runs 39
Hits 63
Doubles 11
Triples 3
Homeruns 7
Walks 44
Strikeouts 54
Stolen Bases 0
Caught Stealing 1
BA .330
OBA .454
SLG% .529
OPS .983
RC 48
RCAA 26
RCAP 21
RC/G 9.46
ISO .199