Frank Thomas

Thomas would leave the Auburn football team after only one season in order to concentrate on baseball. By his senior year (1989) he was voted the Southeastern Conference MVP in baseball, leaving the school with forty-nine career homers, a new record.

After a brief and dominating stint in the Chicago White Sox minor league system, Frank Thomas was finally called up to the big leagues on August 2, 1990. In those last few months of the season he would start at first base and bat .330, with 31 Runs Batted In (RBI), as well as hitting seven home runs.

Throughout the 1990s Thomas would exemplify a true power hitter, putting up impressive numbers year in and year out. In his first full season with the White Sox, he batted .318 and hit thirty-two home runs, with 109 RBIs. Though he was left out of the All-Star lineup that season, he finished third in MVP voting. In fact, he was left off of the All-Star roster again in 1992, even though his numbers seemed to indicate otherwise (.323 with twenty-four home runs and 118 RBIs).

In 1993, Thomas made it to the All-Star game, but more importantly, his bat helped propel the White Sox to their first division title in ten years. With a batting average of .317 and a new White Sox record forty-one home runs, as well as 128 RBIs, Thomas was voted baseball's Most Valuable Player—only the tenth time in the history of the sport the MVP has been chosen by unanimous decision. He'd completed an impressive season, and he would only build on those numbers in 1994.