What Will Happen When Jim Thome Hits Number 600?

This story is coming from somewhere in Ohio, as I am currently living the road trippers dream with McDonald's wrappers spread all over the car floor, and on my way to see first hand Bert Blyleven give his induction speech in Cooperstown this coming Sunday, but what this story is really about is what happened last Sunday.

Jim Thome belted his 596 home-run of the season which was a 490 foot blast(Target Field record) pushing him one more homer closer to number 600 last Sunday. The question now is what kind of response will Thome receive? In 2010 Alex Rodriquez belted his 600 home-run, and every body outside of New York City did not care, because A-Rod admitting that he took steroids. In 2007 Sammy Sosa crushed number 600, but he also did not get the open arm treatment, because of his own steroid cloud that hovers over him.

The steroid era has tainted baseball, yet during that era Thome has, and will never be placed in the steroid questions, because there is no question of did Thome use steroids? Yet some say it will not be a big deal because his team the Minnesota Twins sit in fourth place in a very weak American League Central division. If Thome was a Yankee, or a Red Sox would he get more attention? If you look into his career, Thome has never really played on big market teams besides the Philadelphia Phillies, so to say its because of his team, then we should call "bush-league", because records are not based solely on the players team, but more on himself.

Thome has always been about the love of the game, and not about the money. So has he continues to get closer to 600 the baseball world should listen up. Thome has been a very great player, and has never cut the necessary corners to make himself look better. Its been about the “name on the front of the jersey means more then the name on the back”. With only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Ken Griffey Jr, and Willie Mays who have reached number 600 clean, Thome should get the open arm welcoming they also received.

With records being forever tainted; Thome could become the last player to hit 600 clean, and that should be enough for baseball to give Thome a curtain call, like Derek Jeter got when he reached 3,000 hits a few weeks ago. It should not be what team he is on, or what place they are at in the standings, but should be about his numbers, and their equivalence in baseball history. When ever number 600 happens for Thome, it would be a shame to just ignore it, and throw is aside like we all did for Rodriquez, and Sosa, because I bet if Babe Ruth was playing in this era; his number 600 would not be ignored.