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Frank Thomas

8/15/2006

Thomas is batting .343 (23-for-67) with five homers and 18 RBIs over his last 19 games. The 38-year-old designated hitter joined the Oakland Athletics in the offseason and is batting .263 with 25 homers and 69 RBIs in 95 games this season.

7/27/2006

Thomas homered twice and drove in four runs in the Athletics' 5-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.

7/20/2006

Thomas hit his 20th homer of the season and drove in three runs in the Athletics' 5-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.

7/16/2006

Thomas left Sunday's game against Boston in the fourth inning because of an unspecified illness. Thomas, who returned from the disabled list on June 30, hit a line drive off the Green Monster in the second inning. But he lumbered to first base and wasn't able to take second.

7/13/2006

Thomas is suing two White Sox doctors, claiming their misdiagnosis of his broken foot in 2004 led to further injury and his eventual departure from the team. Attorney Thomas Demetrio said the doctors misdiagnosed a fractured bone in Thomas' left foot as a bruise and cleared him to continue playing, which led to a second broken bone in the foot last year.

7/1/2006

Thomas was activated off the disabled list by the Athletics on Friday and was in the starting lineup against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 38-year-old designated hitter missed 13 games with a strained right quadriceps muscle.

6/15/2006

The Oakland Athletics placed Thomas on the 15-day disabled list iwth a strained right quadriceps before Thursday's game against the Seattle Mariners. The A's designated hitter left Wednesday's game against Seattle in the third inning after hitting a ball off the left field fence that would've been a single. Thomas originally sustained the injury on May 11 against the Toronto Blue Jays and is making his fourth trip to the DL in the past three years.

5/21/2006

Thomas is expected to be in the lineup on Monday against his former team when the Oakland Athletics take on the Chicago White Sox. This will be the first return to Chicago for Thomas, who spent 16 seasons with White Sox before being released in the offseason."It's always good to go home. That's been my adopted home for the last 16 years," Thomas said. "It'll be good to get back."

5/17/2006

Thomas, who has been out nearly a week with a strained quad, could be back in Oakland's lineup Wednesday against Seattle. The Contra Costa Times is reporting that Thomas is ready to return as the A's designated hitter. He's batting .187 (20-for-107) with seven home runs and 18 RBIs in 30 games.

3/31/2006

Oakland manager Ken Macha told the Contra Costa Times that Thomas will be in the lineup for the first two games of the regular season. The manager refused to speculate beyond that point, but look for the oft-injured designated hitter to be in the A's batting order Monday against Randy Johnson and the New York Yankees in the season opener for both clubs.

3/28/2006

Thomas made his Cactus League debut for Oakland Sunday, hitting a home run off Colorado's Josh Fogg in three trips to the plate. A's manager Ken Macha told the San Francisco Chronicle that his designated hitter felt fine on Monday, and Thomas should be in the lineup Tuesday against the Texas Rangers.

3/21/2006

The Contra Costa Times reports that Thomas appeared in a minor league game Tuesday, going 3-for-8 with a single and double. The Oakland DH jogged to first base after his hits. Thomas took batting practice Wednesday and is expected to face A's right-hander Joe Blanton and two other major league pitchers at the minor league complex on Thursday.

3/17/2006

Thomas will face live pitching for the first time since last July on Saturday. Oakland's designated hitter will hit in a minor league game. This is the next step for Thomas, who has been taking batting practice, participating in infield drills and doing some light jogging. He will get at least five at-bats and his baserunning will be limited to jogging down to first base.

2/25/2006

Thomas received positive reports from doctors Friday on his recovering left ankle, allowing him to intensify his workouts with the Oakland Athletics. The 38-year-old slugger was limited to 108 games the past two seasons because of broken bones in the ankle. "All signs point to Frank hitting off the tee and soft tosses Saturday," trainer Larry Davis said. "He's ready to go."

1/25/2006

Thomas agreed to a $500,000, one-year contract with Oakland on Wednesday, where one of the most feared hitters of the last 15 years will serve as the primary designated hitter. Thomas, who spent the first 16 seasons of his career with the Chicago White Sox, hit .219 with 12 home runs and 26 RBIs in 34 games in 2005.

12/7/2005

The Chicago White Sox declined arbitration on Thomas, officially making him an unrestricted free agent. The veteran slugger, who missed the majority of the 2005 campaign with an ankle injury, had a $10 million option on his contract for 2006, but the team decided to buy out the deal for $3.5 million instead. Thomas batted .219 with 12 home runs in just 105 at-bats last season prior to landing on the disabled list.

11/4/2005

On Friday, the Chicago White Sox declined their 2006 option on Thomas and will buy him out for $3.5 million. The move wasn't a surprise following two straight injury-plagued seasons by the White Sox' slugger, who exercised a $10 million mutual option for 2006 on Monday. Chicago had five days to decide on its part of the option. Thomas batted .219 with 12 home runs in just 105 at-bats in a 2005 season shortened by fractures in his left ankle and foot.

10/31/2005

Thomas has exercised his option to return to the White Sox for 2006. In his 2005 season that was abbreviated by a fractured left ankle, Thomas hit 12 home runs and knocked in 26 runs in 34 games while hitting .219. He tops the all-time White Sox list in several offensive categories, including home runs, doubles, runs, RBI, OBP and slugging.

7/29/2005

Reportedly Thomas is done for the year. Dr. Richard Ferkel, who operated on Thomas' ankle on October 6, discovered a second fracture after performing a series of tests in Los Angeles earlier this week. Dr. Ferkel believes the White Sox' designated hitter reinjured the foot over the last two weeks. While the second fracture is not career-threatening, Thomas is not expected to return to action this season.

7/22/2005

On Friday, the Chicago White Sox placed Thomas on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his left foot. The move, which was retroactive to Thursday, gives Thomas ample time to reduce the discomfort that has been a frequent byproduct of his 2004 surgery. The White Sox' designated hitter is batting just .219, though with 12 home runs and 26 RBI in just 34 games.

7/7/2005

With his recent five-game hitting streak, Thomas has improved his season batting average by 30 points. Over that span, the White Sox' slugger is 6-for-17 (.353) with a double, three home runs, eight RBI and four walks.

6/14/2005

Returning to Chicago to host National League clubs this week meant the DH was in use and Thomas was back in the White Sox' lineup. At least for one game. In Monday night's 8-1 loss to Arizona, Thomas homered in the fourth inning, then limped off the field with a cramp in the back of his left leg after singling in the sixth.

6/6/2005

While Thomas has recovered from that mild hip flexor strain, the White Sox' DH may not have a place to play this week. Thomas himself says he doesn't have the range to play the field, so he probably is on the bench and available for pinch-hitting duty only, when the White Sox open an interleague series in Colorado on Monday. The team moves on to San Diego for another DH-free series this weekend.

5/31/2005

Thomas is considered day-to-day with a mild tweak of the hip flexor. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said his designated hitter likely would sit out Tuesday's game against the Angels. Thomas said he would be ready to play again in a few days.

5/30/2005

In the White Sox' 5-4 win over the Angels Monday, Thomas made his first appearance since breaking a bone in his left ankle last July, but was forced to leave because of a strained hip flexor. Before departing, Thomas went 0-for-2 with a walk, batting third as the designated hitter.

5/29/2005

Thomas will be activated from the disabled list for Monday's game against the Los Angeles Angels, and is expected to be in the lineup for the first tme since July 6, 2004.

5/26/2005

Despite batting .207 and slugging .241 in his first eight games at Triple-A Charlotte, Thomas called the White Sox and lobbied to come off the disabled list. He pleaded his case with the man who has never set a timetable for his return: White Sox trainer Herm Schneider.

5/16/2005

On Tuesday, Thomas will begin a minor league rehab assignment with the White Sox' Triple-A Charlotte affiliate. He will join the club in Ottawa, where the Charlotte Knights are facing the Ottawa Lynx, Baltimore's top affiliate.

Thomas admits he has a ways to go. He will face game pitching for the first time, as well as running in game situations. Sox trainer Herm Schneider still hasn't put a timetable on Thomas, and how the Sox' slugger handles the various facets of game action will determine how brief or lengthy his minor league assignment will be.

5/12/2005

After a number of sessions of electric shock therapy for his rehabbing left ankle, Thomas is expressing optimism that his ankle is healthy enough to start a minor league rehab assignment next week. On Wednesday, the Sox' slugger said he is locked in at the plate and can run the bases adequately, though he ruled out playing first base early in his return.

Keep in mind this is a player talking. He's not a doctor and doesn't even play one on TV. Sox trainer Herm Schneider has never put a timetable on Thomas, and he hasn't made any recent statements about his progress. Still, a June debut for Thomas now seems to be a legitimate possibility.

5/2/2005

It appears the electric shock therapy has helped Thomas in his rehab work on his left ankle. The White Sox' designated hitter has experienced significant pain in the days after he has run, but after doing some running on consecutive days over the weekend, Thomas didn't have the degree of discomfort that has followed previously. He had begun electric shock therapy a few days ago, with the intenion of breaking up the scar tissue that has caused the pain.

This looks like a noteworthy step in Thomas' rehab. A return to the White Sox seemed very far off a week ago, but perhaps he isn't quite as far away now. Still, keep in mind that Sox trainer Herm Schneider has never put a timetable on Thomas, and he still won't. Talk of a possible May return for Thomas was something generated outside of the trainer's room.

4/30/2005

Frustrated by being unable to run, and still without a timetable for his return, Thomas has decided to try electric shock therapy on his left ankle. He hopes this will ease the pain in the ankle and break up the scar tissue that is keeping the slugger from being unable to run.

4/26/2005

The cortisone shot Thomas received two weeks ago hasn't improved his ability to run. The White Sox' slugger has been sore for a few days after particpating in running drills. Team trainer Herm Schneider says Thomas isn't much further along than when he reported to the White Sox in March.

Schneider still stands by his oft-repeated statement that he has no set timetable for Thomas' return. He has refused to say when Thomas might be ready, and perhaps the notion of the designated hitter returning sometime in May is overly optimistic.

4/14/2005

Thomas has been bothered by tendinitis in his surgically repaired left ankle since beginning his rehab program in January, and the White Sox' slugger received a cortisone shot Tuesday to reduce the discomfort. Because the injection was into a tendon, Thomas must not work out for a few days to avoid a rupture of that tendon. He won't be allowed to run, hit or perform any of his rehab work until he has medical clearance.

All Thomas can do is undergo treatment, and his left foot will be in a protective boot for a few days. Already Thomas has been unable to run the bases at full speed because of scar tissue, and now he'll sit for a while. With Sox GM Ken Williams believing that Thomas will require roughly 100 at-bats in the minors, the slugger probably won't return to the big league club until at least mid-May.