Jim Thome Mashes His 600th Home Run

Let’s face it, Jim Thome is the epitome of what we all strive to be. He’s hard working, humble, successful, driven and most important of all, happy.

We’ve been watching Thome hit the living s**t out of the ball for two decades, with little to no fanfare. His “chase” to 600 has been one of the quietest of all time.

Of course, it helps to hit 599 and 600 in the same game to avoid the annoying media build-up that hung onto Ken Griffey, Jr.’s ass like the world’s most painful boil.

Only eight players in MLB history have hit over 600 home runs — and it appears he just did it in the wrong era.

But he could give a damn about fame. That much has always been obvious.

The 600 club now includes: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, KGJ, A-Rod, Sammy Sosa and Jim Thome.

Those are the biggest names in history, period.

No one could honestly argue that he has ever been the best player in the league at any particular time. He never could play defense worth a damn. He wasn’t a terror on the basepaths.

He was a masher. His hero was Dave Kingman for crying out loud. Thome dreamed one day of being a poor man’s Mark McGwire.

You could say he eclipsed that goal.

His career line: .277/600 HR/2263 hits/1662 RBI is astonishing. He was able to play for a long time, compiling huge numbers — with uncanny consistency.

He really only missed one year to injury, limited to just 59 games in 2005. He batted .207 and hit only 7 home runs that year. At 34, it looked like the Jim Thome train had run out of fuel.

He stuck with it, and honestly, his last 7 years have looked amazingly Kingman-like. Which I am sure is just OK with the hyper-competitive old man.

Unfortunately, with any home run hitter we have to start any HOF talk with a disclaimer: Assuming he is never connected with steroids, he will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.