Silver slugger Frank Thomas, aka, “The Big Hurt”, April 1997. Hall of famer Thomas was one of the top hitters of the 1990s, arguably the best if it weren’t for steroids during that era. With an impressive .301 lifetime batting average, he hit over .300 for ten seasons of his 20 year career including a .353 mark in 1994; averaged nearly 40 home runs a season during his first decade; was AL MVP twice; and won the batting title in 1997 (.347 average). Drafted and played with the Chicago White Sox for most of his career, which unfortunately limited his post season opportunities although he finally did get a World Series ring in 2005.
Thomas, along with Ken Griffey, Jr and a few other elite players, did not take performance enhancing drugs during the 90s, unlike many of their peers. On the contrary, he repeatedly asked for mandatory testing by the league and passed numerous random tests during his career. Although he was voted an all-star five times, by today’s post-PED standards he probably would’ve been an all-star twice that.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 and remains the only player in major league history to have seven consecutive seasons of a .300 average and at least 100 walks, 100 runs, 100 runs batted in, and 20 home runs. He also joined fellow hall of famers Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Jimmie Foxx, and Mel Ott in hitting at least 500 home runs while maintaining a career .300+ batting average.
