Sox great Thomas greets fans in Naperville
By Jason Ivanitz For Sun-Times Media June 2, 2011 10:18PM
Charlie Nosek, 7, of Naperville is excited to get his picture taken with White Sox great Frank Thomas during a book signing Thursday at Anderson’s Books in Naperville. | Mary Beth Nolan~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 27, 2011 12:31AM
When it comes to home runs there are few names that outshine Frank Thomas.
Thomas, also known as “The Big Hurt,” greeted and signed books for hundreds of avid White Sox fans that lined up around Anderson’s Bookstore in Naperville. He wrote the forward for Lew Freedman’s newest book called “Going Yard: The Everything Home Run Book.”
Thomas’ 521 home runs puts him 18th on the all-time list and Freedman considered him to be the perfect candidate to write the forward in his 52nd published book.
“I knew that I wanted someone from the 500 home run club,” Freedman said. “Some people had passed away while others have their names tarnished because of steroids. Frank is not like that. Frank is a person that has been been up front and honest with the issue of steroids and has testified against it.”
The book covers the art of the home run from many angles profiling some of the best home run hitters and even some little known facts like the first home run or the massive amount of home runs hit by players who never made it to the major leagues.
“This was something new for me and I also enjoyed making small comments on some of the other hitters,” Thomas said. “Becoming a major league hitter is such a tedious process. It is not easy. To hit over 500 home runs takes a little bit of luck because you need that special pitch.
“My mindset was to never hit home runs though. My min set was to hit the ball hard and they ended up being home runs.”
Fans pre-ordered the book and picked it up at the store prior to meeting with the authors. Numbers were called and Thomas and Freedman each signed the front page of the book. They also briefly posed for pictures.
“Anybody can write a book. However, if you have the backing of someone like Frank Thomas in your book it makes it that much better and it adds so much,” Naperville resident Nick Gianacakos said. “This was a great opportunity to bring my son out and meet someone who will probably be a first ballot Hall of Famer.”
Anderson’s bookstore was the lone stop for the signing and promoting of the book in the suburbs. Prior to coming to the bookstore, Thomas conducted radio and TV interviews in Chicago.
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