Thome Gives White Sox Opening Day Win
April 8, 2009 – 8:00 am by Lance Zimmerman
Obviously Jim Thome can still rake. He’s averaged 37 long balls over the past three seasons, and he’s currently on pace to hit 162 of them this season. I’m sure he’ll get there no problem! Thome launched a Kyle Farnsworth fastball over the centerfield wall to give the Sox the lead in the 8th which ended up being enough to get the win on opening day.
During Thome’s major league career, he has teamed with some very talented players like Chase Utley, Manny Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins, Robbie Alomar, and Albert Belle. He sees similarities in some of the young talent currently on the Chicago’s roster.
Jim Thome joined the Afternoon Saloon on ESPN Radio Chicago to discuss his late game heroics as well as some of the new faces on this year’s team:
On the at-bat against Kyle Farnsworth and the game winning home run:
“Well obviously he’s a fastball, slider type of guy. Throws hard, 96, 98. He’s got a very good slider as well. I got 2-0 and he threw me a fastball out over the plate and I took it, which I was a little upset about it. In that situation when you get a pitch like that you’ve got to at least hack at it and I didn’t do that. The next pitch was a fastball as well (game winning home run), so it ended up working out. It was kind of a mid to outer part of the plate and I put a good swing on it.”
On rookie 2nd baseman Chris Getz:
“He reminds me a lot of Chase Utley. I mean that as a compliment. Their demeanor is the same. This kid (Getz) is a talented player that people are going to know about. The way he carries himself reminds me of when Utley came up with us their in Philadelphia. It’s a pretty deep statement to make but he’s going to be a talented player. He wouldn’t be here unless our organization and all of us believe in him.”
Thome was asked how many home runs he thinks he’s going to hit this year:
“You know what, and I’ll answer this as I always have, I’ve always set goals, never individual, never ‘I want to hit this many homers, or this many RBI’s’. If I can stay healthy, I think the main thing is just to stay healthy and we’ll let everything else just take care of itself. Individual things are nice but ultimately its about winning and getting that ring.”
Listen to Jim Thome on ESPN Radio Chicago with the Afternoon Saloon
Tags: Chicago White Sox, Jim Thome, Opening Day
