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Inside The White Sox
Thomas lost for rest of season
Saturday, July 30, 2005
By Joe Cowley
Staff writer
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BALTIMORE — The ending, if that indeed is what it was, was wrong in so many ways.
When Frank Thomas struck out swinging in a game July 20, it wasn't only his last at-bat of the 2005 season, it may have been his last at-bat ever in a White Sox uniform.
A player who has rewritten the franchise's record book since arriving on the South Side 16 years ago would seemingly deserve a happier ending to his story.
That apparently won't be the case, however. The Sox announced Friday that a new fracture has been discovered in Thomas' left foot, marking the second straight year his season ended prematurely because of a fracture in the left foot.
The Sox are expected to exercise a $3.5 million buyout clause in his contract after this season, and it's likely Thomas has played his final game with the team.
"Well, obviously we're disappointed," general manager Ken Williams said. "And at this point, that's not how this story was supposed to end."
Thomas went on the 15-day disabled list on July 22 when the pain in his left ankle became unbearable. He flew to Los Angeles to meet with Dr. Richard Ferkel, who performed surgery on Thomas' ankle last October, for a consultation.
Thomas and the Sox were under the impression the soreness required just rest and that Thomas would be ready to return by mid-August. But Ferkel delivered the bad news Friday.
"Frank Thomas was evaluated by me recently at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute for acute onset of pain in his left foot," Ferkel said in a statement. "It appears Frank has re-injured his foot over the last two weeks while playing baseball, and recent evaluation shows a new fracture through the navicular in his foot.
"Because of the healing time involved with this fracture, it does not appear that Frank will be able to return back to the White Sox this season. I want to emphasize that I do not feel this injury is career-ending. The plan for Frank will be to immobilize him in a cast and follow him with sequential X-rays until the fracture is healed. If the fracture does not heal with conservative treatment, he may require additional surgery in the future."
Sox trainer Herm Schneider quickly put to rest any thought Thomas could be back for the postseason.
"It doesn't look too good in that respect," Schneider said. "The navicular bone is a very non-vascular bone. It takes a long time to heal when healthy, and Frank's bone is not a healthy bone. Most time when you have a fracture, everybody knows it's four to six weeks for a fracture to heal. With Frank, it's more like six to eight weeks.
"If you look at the calendar, we're running out of real estate and time (for a return in the postseason). That's why Dr. Ferkel said by the time we get him out of the cast and rehab him, get him strengthened up again, there just won't be enough time to do that."
It's the third major injury Thomas has suffered since 2001, when he tore his right biceps and missed most of that season.
In 2004, after playing just 74 games, Thomas fractured a bone in the left foot. The stress fracture did not heal properly, and he had surgery in late October to have two screws put in the bone.
Thomas didn't make his debut this season until May 30. He hit 12 homers in only 34 games, but had just a .219 batting average. Thomas admitted he was playing hurt, and after the July 20 game against the Detroit Tigers, knew something was definitely wrong.
"The initial fracture that Frank had casted is healed and the screws are in place," Schneider said. "That's not the problem. It's a stress-related problem to a non-healthy bone."
Thomas, 37, is making $8 million this season. He has a $10 million option for next season, and the team can exercise a $12 million option even if Thomas declines his own option. Either way, the Sox have the final say via the potential $3.5 million buyout that would make him a free agent.
Even before the injury, the Sox likely were going to buy out the contract unless Thomas was willing to sign a new deal for far less money.
"It's too soon to tell," Williams said of Thomas' future with the Sox. "But I always try to stay ahead of the curve in planning and I just don't have an answer to that question. At least not one that is not based on emotion of the situation.
"As much as I want to envision him hitting his 500th home run here, I have to weigh all the factors into the decision, and there's just not enough information right now to go forward. I don't know with the timing of the injury and the impending plan of attack to get him better, I'm not sure even as we head to the offseason that we'll have enough information to make a decision that works well for the club itself."
Thomas is a career .307 hitter with 448 home runs, 1,465 RBI, 1,327 runs and 1,466 walks in 1,959 games with the Sox. He is the Sox's all-time leader in home runs, runs, doubles (447), RBI, total bases (3,949), extra-base hits (906) and walks. His 448 home runs rank 29th in baseball history, and his 1,466 walks rank 17th.
Thomas had said on several occasions this season that he wanted to reach 500 homers, but that he wants a championship ring more than anything else.
His actions backed that statement, as he's transformed from an admittedly selfish player to a team-first guy over the past few years. This year, he's been that kind of guy for a club that is looking like a World Series contender, and that's why Williams was so upset by the news.
"I know I'm supposed to be objective when it comes to things like this and give the point of view from the business perspective, but I've been in a room now with Frank to hear the doctors first tell him the bicep(s) problem a few years ago and he bounced back from that," Williams said. "Last year, with the first problem with his foot, and now in the last week.
"Frank has learned to play with pain throughout the year. Geez, he's adjusted to a new manager, adjusted this year to a new style of play and new teammates, and I said earlier this year he's done it with a certain style and grace and professional manner of which he's gone about his business.
"He's converted me into one of his biggest supporters, whereas two years ago the two of us probably could have sold out Caesar's Palace for a nice little rumble.
"Listening to the doctor when it was basically just me, Herm and Frank giving us the results and seeing the pain in Frank's face both physically and emotionally, you couldn't help your stomach was in knots. All he wanted to do was stay healthy and help finish what these guys started. This wasn't in the script."
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