Baseball Way Back: The other Frank Thomas who made a name in Chicago baseball

The Big Hurt wasn't the first Frank Thomas to play for a Chicago major league team.

Another slugger, Frank Thomas, had two tours of duty with the Chicago Cubs in the 1960s.

Thomas, who died Monday in his native Pittsburgh, where he spent his best seasons with the Pirates, will not go down as one of the all-time top Chicago players.

He did achieve lasting notoriety, however, for a fight with a teammate, Dick Allen, who would become a Chicago legend.

Thomas' arrival for his first of two tours of duty on the North Side was greeted with enthusiastic anticipation.

He came to the Cubs in a trade with Cincinnati on Dec. 6, 1959, the same day that Minnie Minoso returned to the White Sox in a deal with Cleveland.

The Cubs parted ways with outfielders Lee Walls and Lou Jackson and pitcher Bill Henry to acquire Thomas, who had hit 163 round-trippers, including 35 in 1958, for the Pirates from 1951-58.

Thomas had some big shoes to fill in Pittsburgh, plugging a power hole created when Ralph Kiner was dealt to the Cubs.

Cincinnati traded for Thomas in 1959, in a blockbuster deal that sent key players on the 1960 World Series champions, Harvey Haddix, Don Hoak and Smoky Burgess, to the Pirates. But Thomas' power production dropped off. He only hit 12 home runs, drove in 47 runs and hit an anemic .225. The drop-off was attributed to a slow recovery from a thumb operation.

Cubs manager Charlie Grimm was optimistic about the three-time all-star's prospects, telling reporters, "The big guy has proved he can hit. His thumb is all right now. We had him checked by a doctor and we have been assured he is physically okay."

Thomas' power would rebound slightly - he hit 21 homers, but only drove in 64 runs and batted .238 in 1960. After a mere 15 games in 1961, the Cubs shipped him to the Milwaukee Braves for Mel Roach.

Thomas' career was rejuvenated when he played for the Mets in their inaugural season in 1962 and retained fond memories of manager Casey Stengel, which he shared in 2003.

"I'd love to listen to the stories he'd tell about players, and he had forgotten more about the game than most people knew. He'd give that double-talk to the media, but he didn't do that with the players."

That year Thomas set a Mets club record for home runs, 34, that stood until Dave Kingman broke it in 1975.

Although the Mets had a dismal record, Thomas said, "We didn't have that bad of a ballclub that year. We lost something like 51 games by one run, usually in the seventh, eighth or ninth innings."

Thomas would play for seven major league teams, but he is perhaps best known for an infamous incident that occurred in Philadelphia when he became involved in a fight with Phillies teammate Dick Allen in 1965.

The very first chapter in "Crash: The Life and Times of Dick Allen," written by Allen and Tim Whitaker, focuses on the fight.

Thomas, the book notes, was a popular figure in Philadelphia, co-hosting a highly rated morning radio show.

But, the book said, Thomas was known to teammates as an agitator and particularly hard on Black players.

Allen writes that Thomas would offer his hand in a "soul shake" to a young teammate, only to "grab the player's thumb and bend it back hard. To Thomas, this was a big joke. But I saw too many brothers on the team with swollen thumbs to get any laughs."

It was a time of racial tension as well, with riots in the streets of Philadelphia.

During batting practice at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia one day, Allen wrote, Thomas, who had been taunted by teammate Johnny Callison, instead of answering one of the taunts, looked at Allen, who was at third base fielding ground balls, and said, "What are you trying to be, another Muhammad Clay, always running your mouth off?" It was a reference to boxer Muhammad Ali, formerly known as Cassius Clay.

Allen wrote, "I went down to the cage and there's Thomas, resting his elbow on a bat, waiting for me."

He told Thomas "that stuff don't go with me" and then "popped him, a short left to the jaw. He went down, then he got up swinging that bat. I ducked, but he caught me on the left shoulder." It took five Phillies to restrain Allen.

Phillies management reacted quickly. Thomas was put on waivers and claimed by the Astros.

The fans, however, blamed Allen for the confrontation and made him a target for boos. He received hate mail with racial taunts.

Thomas also received his share of criticism in the press, especially from writer Dick Young, who wrote a scathing piece, in which he said, "The real trouble with Frank Thomas is that nobody can stand him."

Later, in June 1988, at an old-timer's game at Buffalo's Pilot Field, Thomas and Allen put their arms around each other and Thomas later held up the rope surrounding the field so Allen could duck under it and head for batting practice.

Thomas said, "I've always said (Allen) could have been the greatest player of all time. That's how much admiration I have for the man."

Thomas would wrap up his major league career with the Cubs in 1966. He played in five games and went hitless in five at-bats. He was given his unconditional release to make room for outfielder Marty Keough.

Thomas finished his career with 286 homers, 962 runs driven in and 1,671 hits.

Looking back, Thomas said, "I always felt if you gave 100 percent at whatever you did, you didn't have anything to be ashamed of."