The Twins placed the member of the 600 HR club on waivers this Monday and he was then claimed by the Cleveland Indians. It was all up to him to accept or veto a trade with his No-Trade Clause. new came down moments ago that Thome has in fact accepted a trade that would return him to the place he started his career: the Cleveland Indians.

The details of the trade are not immediately available.

The mystery now lies  in whom it was that did the claiming.

It’s not hard to understand why this has happened. Not only are the Twins officially giving up hope on any chance of a postseason run, the almighty contact dispute comes into the picture.

Kubel is a free agent at the end of the year and was one of three big names the Twins were looking at bringing back. Delmon Young, Micheal Cuddyer and Kubel all need new deals and the Twins were faced with the dilemma of who to pay.

Young was the first to go, he was shipped to Detroit the day Thome hit his 600th homerun.

Cuddyer will most likely not be back after he was ‘insulted’ by the wins offer prior to July’s trade deadline. And now Kubel, (more…)

Jim Thome reached baseball immortality by becoming a member of the 600 Home Run club

DETROIT — He didn’t brag. He didn’t praise himself as being the best of all-time. He didn’t cheat. Instead Jim Thome quietly blasted 600 home runs in his long  baseball career; the 599th and 600th of which came last night in Comerica Park against the Detroit Tigers.

Thome became just the 8th player in Major League Baseball history to achieve the goal of 600 home runs in a career and, much to the satisfaction of hardcore and old-time baseball fans, he did it clean, innocently and politely. Thome has never been linked to PEDs, HGH, or any other kind of performance enhancing poison that has plagued baseball’s record books for the past twenty-odd years.

Long been considered the ‘Nicest Guy in Baseball’, Jim Thome had just about everyone in the baseball world rooting for him to get to that almighty, and iconic number. Thome has touched just about everyone in baseball from former teammates, to coaches and fans alike. One story of Thome’s nice0guy attitude touching a fan occured a few years back. One fan asked Jim Thome for his autograph and Thome gave him the typical ballplayer response of ‘I’ll get back to you later”. The only thing was, Jim actually did get back to that fan later, seeking him out in the crowd and signing his ball. These kinds of stories evoke the memories of being told the exact same story by our grandafther’s about meeting their favorite baseball hero in some magical moment of bliss and honesty.

He’s worn five MLB jersey’s in his 20 year career that includes the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and the Minnesota Twins.

He started his journey to 600 in 1991, debuting for the Cleveland Indians where he quickly became a staple. Thome went to 3 All-Star games in an Indian’s uniform in 1997, ’98 and ’99. He won a Silver Slugger award in 1996 as a member of the club and was also on their World Series roster against the Marlins. When Thome departed to Philadelphia after the ’02 season, he continued to make his mark in baseball with his powerful swing and even more powerfully positive attitude. He hit career homerun No. 400 in a Phillies uniform as well as wearing it to the 2004 All-Star team. He led the National League in homeruns in 2003 hitting 47, one shy of the Phillies franchise record of 48 hit by Mike Schmidt in 1980.

It wasn’t until Thome’s return to the American League did he begin to catch fire again. Not only was he fresh off of recovering from an injury plagued final season with the Phillies, but he was returning home to Illinois where he was born. On August 27, 1970 Jim Thome was born in Peoria, Illinois. He gained the nickname of ‘The Pride of Peoria” amongst his hometown kin when he exploded into a baseball phenom. That nickname, The Pride of Peoria, again akins back to the epic nicknames that iconic ball players have been given over the years. As a member of the Chicago White Sox, Thome continued to amass home runs and awards. In his first season with the White Sox, he attended his third All-Star game in a different uniform and the fifth of his career. But his crowning moment (more…)