Fun Facts about Jim Thome

by Bobomojo on Sep 8, 2010 10:07 AM EDT in By the Numbers

I hope Jesse doesn't mind me posting two stories back-to-back on the main page, but I just had to share the following nuggets about Jim Thome's amazing season. We're seeing something special here, folks, enjoy it.

Jim Thome's Isolated Slugging Percentage currently sits at .357. Not only is this the highest mark in baseball, it's the highest in Twins' history. In fact, the last time a player finished a season with an ISO higher than .357 was in 2004. The player? Barry Bonds.

Thome has walked in 17.5% of his plate appearances. That's also the highest mark in baseball.

Thome is just one of five players with an OPS over 1.000.

39% of the balls Thome puts in play are fly balls. 33% of those fly balls are hit for home runs (easily the highest rate in baseball).

Thome has only been intentionally walked 3 times this season. Expect that number to go up.

That's it, that's all I wanted to share. Have any fun facts about Thome's season, career, mystique? Add 'em in the comments. Let's have some fun.

(NOTE: Thome doesn't actually have enough PAs to qualify for the batting title, so he doesn't show up on the official leaderboards for any of these stats. The above stats are comparing Thome to all other players with at least 290 PAs.)

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I heard the Irish Potato Famine happened because

Jimmer had already mashed each and every tater.

Apparently the Irish prefer baked potatoes?

by Jesse on Sep 8, 2010 10:44 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

makes sense

the only nutrition in those suckers is in the skin

by bl4ckduck on Sep 8, 2010 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I saw some good numbers comparing his OPS+ to other players his age

He’s one of the top players his age in history. Unfortunately the list of top players his age has almost nobody on the same list 1 year later. Attrition is high for players his age.

by DJL44 on Sep 8, 2010 11:09 AM EDT reply actions

I always like Thome

even when I feared his mighty bat b/c he was w/ Cleveland or Chicago. But now I freaking LOVE Thome that he is swinging mighty redwood tree for the Twins.

He is proving to be exactly what I thought he would be as a Twins

by caluofmn on Sep 8, 2010 11:30 AM EDT reply actions

You must have high expectations

"Pinch-bunters don't have a ton of value, even with the Twins"

by Steven Ellingson on Sep 8, 2010 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

My expectations

were that he would be a good clubhouse guy (I haven’t heard different), and provide some fun to watch power off the bench…

If the Twins would have signed him before he went to Philly or Chicago maybe I’d expect something different. But after this winter’s signing I’m very please the Twins brought him on board.

by caluofmn on Sep 8, 2010 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Other Jim Thome fun facts:

He no longer plays for the White Sox.

He no longer plays for the Indians.

His homer off the flag pole fulfilled his life-long dream of non-violent, baseball-related protesting against flagpoles. (Who do they think they are, anyway?)

Colby Lewis has a recurring nightmare of coming home late at night, and hearing loud noises coming from somewhere in his house. As he creeps through his home, he finds bits of potato skin, seemingly tossed aside haphazardly. The sounds are coming from his bedroom. As he peers through a crack in the door, he sees Jim Thome standing with a big bowl in his arms, mashing all of Colby’s potatoes. That’s when Colby Lewis wakes up screaming, drenched in a cold sweat.

Jim Thome is more of a gentleman than you.

The last time Nick Punto hit a home run, Jim Thome called him and said “Nice bunt.”

Defenses don’t really try to shift for Jim Thome, they just can’t help it. Jim Thome is so massive that when he stands in the batter’s box he makes the world shift that way.

Once a year, Jim Thome stops mashing taters in honor of those who have been mashed.

The Big Band was just god deciding to create Jim Thome.

The impact event that killed off the dinosaurs was actually just Jim Thome arriving from another planet. And it wasn’t the results of the impact that killed the dinosaurs, it was fear.

The Potato Protection Program was put into effect in August, 1994. The baseball strike was actually due to a tater shortage, caused by the breakout season of Jim Thome.

Ok I have to go back to work now.

by Jesse on Sep 8, 2010 11:31 AM EDT reply actions 5 recs

Big Band = Big Bang.

Don’t judge me.

by Jesse on Sep 8, 2010 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Thome is playing better than I expected, but let's not forget the bonus of Chicago angst...

"'Over'? Did you say 'over'? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell, no!"

by rubberbiscuit on Sep 8, 2010 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I kinda liked Big Band

It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.

by SteadyDietOfCheese on Sep 8, 2010 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Jim Thome not only hits home runs, he also does a killer trombone solo.

by timprov on Sep 8, 2010 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

This Jim Thome dude sounds a lot like he can do a roundhouse-kick

And if this post doesn’t turn green soon, I will protest!

by twinscrazy_german on Sep 8, 2010 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions

The pickup of the year

Dollar for dollar, no acquisition in all of MLB compares to this one. Let’s hope he becomes an integral part of the playoff run!

The beard abides.

by Jason Kubel's Beard on Sep 8, 2010 11:50 AM EDT reply actions

In Thome's long, illustrious career,

he’s only had 2 seasons when he’s put up a better wOBA than this year. Helping is that he’s facing lefties only about 25% of the time this year, versus about 31% of the time over his career. Over his career he’s about a .335 wOBA guy versus lefties and a .437 guy versus righties. This year that split is even a little more extreme.

Thome has 13 home runs at Target Field, more than anyone else. Jason Kubel is a distant second with 7.

As awesome a hitter as Jim Thome’s been over 297 PA this year, Justin Morneau was even better over 348 PA:

Morneau: 345/437/618, .446 wOBA
Thome: 278/407/635, .437 wOBA

(in all of baseball, only Josh Hamilton has put up better hitting numbers over at least 290 PA, but if you want to call Thome’s and Morneau’s numbers better, you could point to how the Ballpark at Arlington juices Hamilton’s numbers a bit)

by Luke in MN on Sep 8, 2010 12:22 PM EDT reply actions

Another fun fact

Jim Thome doesn’t even like mashed potatoes. He always orders rice pilaf.

by DJL44 on Sep 8, 2010 1:23 PM EDT reply actions

Big Jimmer

Darryl Dawkins has a summer home in Thome’s groin.

We once had a bachelor party for Thome. He ate the entire cake, before we could tell him there was a stripper in it.

Did I ever tell you about the time Thome was in a production of The King and I? Well anyway, before the show, Thome chloroforms the entire cast, and slowly eats them in front of the audience for two hours. The production got pretty good reviews.

They use Thome’s foreskin as a tarp when it rains at Yankee Stadium.

Did I ever tell you about the time Thome took me out to go get a drink with him? We go off looking for a bar and we can’t find one. Finally Thome takes me to a vacant lot and says, ‘Here we are.’ We sat there for a year and a half and sure enough someone constructs a bar around us. The day they opened we ordered a shot, drank it, and then burned the place to the ground. Thome yelled over the roar of the flames, ’Always leave things the way you found em!

by Moojenowski on Sep 8, 2010 1:46 PM EDT reply actions