My all time favorite baseball player is Jim Thome. When he left my beloved Cleveland Indians in 2002 it was a very sad day for me. So when I heard the news the other night that the Indians had claimed him off waivers from the Twins you can imagine how I felt… I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or not. I was elated when I woke up the other morning and read the news that we’d in fact signed him to a contract and Jimmy was coming home!
After the Indians made the announcement that he had been signed and that he’d be in the starting lineup on Friday evening they sold 8,500 additional tickets for the game. In my mind that just goes to show how much Jim Thome means to the city of Cleveland. I’ve heard many people talk bad about Thome for leaving Cleveland the way he did back in 2002 and even though he’s my all time fav I can’t fault a guy for taking an EXTRA 27 million dollars to do his job. I also recently heard from someone that would know that he was pressured by the union to take the deal and that he really didn’t want to leave Cleveland. But I digress…
I hadn’t planned on going to the game, but as the opening pitch grew nearer I just couldn’t stand that thought of not seeing him come back. I called the wife and we decided last minute to go to the game. We got about the worst seats in the park (section 507, two rows from the top) but we were THERE!
Even though Jimmy didn’t get a hit on his first night back (0-4) it was absolutely awesome for this Thome fan to have Jim back “home”. Not sure how the Tribe is going to do for the rest of the season but I’m super happy to say that they’re going to make the stretch run with future hall of famer Thome in the lineup! Welcome home Jimmy!
Do you know anyone with one of those signs for sale? My daughter in Texas is a huge fan and I would love to get one for her for Christmas.
Fran – as a matter of fact I’ve got a couple extra. If you’re willing to cover shipping charges I’d be more than happy to share one.