With news this morning that the White Sox have traded Jim Thome to the Los Angeles Dodgers comes a bittersweet taste in the mouths of Sox fans everywhere.
I recall the November day, just a handful of days after the White Sox captured their first World Series championship in 88 years. The news came through that centerfielder Aaron Rowand had been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for slugger Jim Thome. I was elated; incoming was a future Hall of Fame left-handed power hitter to add to an already-championship line-up and make the White Sox the odds-on favorites to win the 2006 World Series.
And they were. For the first time possibly in the history of the publication, Sports Illustrated predicted the White Sox to win the 2006 World Series the following spring.
And what a year 2006 was. The park was packed every night with fans still deliriously happy over the team’s triumph the year before, and the present team’s fortunes. Thome, Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko led an incredibly potent offense that hit more home runs than any other in baseball. They established team records for both home runs and attendance that season, and though the pitching could not keep up, it was one hell of a year on the south side.
In Thome’s nearly four seasons with the club, he has had ups and downs, but has still put up respectable numbers and remained the most beloved person in the clubhouse until his departure. Sox fans will never forget his 500th career home run – of the walk-off variety. He also hit one of the most important homers in club history to win Game 163 in 2008 and send the Sox into the playoffs.
And I will never forget the 2006 World Series championship that his acquisition was supposed to insure. It didn’t quite work out that way, but I will remember that year and his tenure with the Sox very fondly nevertheless.
As for the 2009 World Series, I’m a Dodgers fan. The Gentleman Masher deserves one more crack at a ring, and I’m proud of Sox GM Kenny Williams for affording him that opportunity.