Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Frank Thomas takes exception to being left off White Sox's Black History Month post
02 Feb 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: Why was Frank Thomas left off the White Sox's Black History Month post?
Rahimi, Harrison, Groovy.
Midday's Tittle 2. On Chicago Sports Radio.
Let's get out of here.
Uh-huh. Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. Frank Thomas is simply one of the greatest White Sox players ever. Maybe the greatest White Sox player ever. 16 years with the White Sox. You know all about Frank. He's not really dirty, Frank, even though that's the song that, of course. Goes through my head. Dirty Frank by Pearl Jam. He's decidedly not dirty.
The irony of losing out on a third MVP because of that dirty, filthy Giambi brother. But Frank Thomas is a classic. He is one of the greatest. He's one of the greatest. That is what a first ballot Hall of Famer is. Looks like. That said, White Sox Twitter, I don't know if you guys saw yesterday, was reflecting upon momentous firsts for the Sox organization for Black History Month.
And for example, some of those. Old Comiskey Park plays host to the first ever East-West Negro Leagues All-Star Game in 1933. Harold Baines in 1977 becomes the second African-American player selected with the number one overall pick in the MLB draft. Baines was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. All sorts of great, momentous options right here. Dick Allen.
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Chapter 2: What are Frank Thomas's career highlights with the White Sox?
Here is one where in 1972, Dick Allen becomes the first black player in White Sox history to win AL MVP honors. Frank Thomas joined Allen as MVP in 1994. Now, just an example. There's many more examples, but I just want to give you just a little bit of it.
Frank Thomas responded to that White Sox tweet honoring Black History Month by saying, this is Frank Thomas, quote, I guess the black player who made you rich over there and holds all of your records is forgettable. Don't worry. I am
taking receipts close quote that is from Frank Thomas and before I let you respond Marshall because I definitely want to hear what you had to say and I have some things to say as well there was a tweet that just came down from actually just a little while ago
From our guy, Bruce Levine, at MLB, Bruce Levine on X. He said a little while ago, I am told the White Sox will continue to promote Black History Month with the emphasis on HOF Frank Thomas and other Chicago Sox favorites. What do you think? Do you think he got slighted? Does Frank Thomas have a point here?
There were some names in there that you mentioned. While they were black and had a sort of historical reference for the White Sox, I think Danny Goodwin was one of the names, the guy that got drafted by the Sox? Yeah. How many games did he play for the Sox? I don't know. There's a reason you don't know. He didn't play any. Okay.
Frank Thomas is the greatest White Sox player to ever play for the organization. I'm not pushing back on that. Black, white, purple, whatever color you want to talk about. He is also, because you mentioned the... You mentioned the MVP that was won by Dick Allen, who you know I'm a fan of. And congratulations on him finally getting his Hall of Fame due.
But Frank Thomas, it could have been this simple. This is all they had to do, the White Sox. Frank Thomas is the first... Black player to ever win back-to-back MVPs. List the years. That's how simple it is. Because when I first saw it, I was like, oh, did he not do something that they consider like a black achievement first whatever? It took me all of five seconds to come up with that.
What I just told you. Yeah.
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Chapter 3: What historical moments were celebrated by the White Sox for Black History Month?
Right, right. And you're... Yeah, I guess, yeah, yes, fair enough, fair enough.
And so there's other things you could have, like, come up with for Frank Thomas to be noted in that long list of guys who got noted on that infographic that went out on social media. And the fact that they didn't do it, yeah, it's a slight. I think Frank Thomas saying something escalates the situation, but you know what? He's going to do what he wants to do.
The White Sox, it's on them to fix this. And I get it. Frank Thomas has never been a not stubborn person.
Yeah, he's been hard to manage.
Yes, it's well documented whether you want to talk about him and Kenny going back and forth. If you want to talk about how his role was viewed when the White Sox won the World Series when he was obviously hurt. How about the diminished skills clause back in 2002 when they... Listen, you know me as a White Sox fan growing up in Alabama? You do know where he played his college baseball, right?
In Birmingham. Well, it's college baseball. He played at Auburn University.
Auburn, oh yeah.
He was a tight end and a first baseman for Auburn. So I'm really interested to see what this guy does, and I follow his career through the And I don't think I'm over-exaggerating when I say he exploded onto the scene as a Major League Baseball player.
I mean, come on, man. You know me. I'm a Cubs fan. I used to go to whatever it was, U.S. Cellular Field, Comiskey 2, to watch Frank Thomas hit his third inning home runs.
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Chapter 4: What was Frank Thomas's reaction to being omitted from the White Sox post?
This is a self-check. This is you dribbling down the court and then bouncing the ball off your knee going out of bounds. It's a turnover. It's a bad play. All they had to do was mention the man, and then he can't come at you in the way that he did. And if you're a supporter of the White Sox and you're a supporter of Frank Thomas, how can you not see this as anything but a slight? That's me.
That man gave me great years of being a White Sox fan. But you're also admitting your heavy-duty bias. And I know most Sox fans that are listening right now, Frank Thomas is probably their favorite White Sox player.
But I'm saying even if I'm not a White Sox fan, even if I'm not a Frank Thomas fan, you look at the guys listed on the infographic, you look at the omission of the guy I say is the best White Sox player in history... And it does not, I think to any rational, unbiased, non-involved party, like if we ask people in New York or L.A., just baseball fans, what do you think of this?
They'd be like, yeah, Frank's got a case. It's a very strong case.
I don't want to nitpick, but I guess I am. Dick Allen's the first to get that. And then when you say, you're right, the way to do it would have been the first black player in White Sox history to win two
Not White Sox history, American League history. That's why I was like, let me escalate it.
Yeah, the first to do that. I mean, you're not the first to get the MVP, though, so you are having to press a little bit to get there.
That was my five seconds. If I take five minutes, I'll come up with something else for you.
No, I understand. I understand the spirit. I'm trying to... You're trying to justify what the White Sox did? I think you should be on there. I'm trying to get in the heads of the White Sox, right? I don't think it was egregious on their part. Do you? I don't think that the White Sox were like, oh, we're not putting Frank on there because of the stuff that he said. I don't think that's it at all.
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Chapter 5: How did the White Sox respond to Frank Thomas's comments?
I don't think it was petty on the part of the White Sox. That's what I'm choosing to believe. Maybe I'm being naive.
Okay, okay, that's fair. It was egregious, maybe not petty. It probably is egregious, yeah. But, no, it definitely is egregious. My point is this. If Frank Thomas feels that it's petty, you've got to go in there and do damage control. You can't let that error... Oh, the White Sox? It's already been too long. If they haven't contacted Frank Thomas and tried to work it out... Well, who knows?
It's already been too long. We had the Bruce tweet right there, too, saying that they will focus on HOF.
And now he can't come to the home... Apparently he would not show up for Home Run Derby. So Kanerko's back in. Kanerko's back on my... That's right.
Paulie's our guy. That's right.
Although, you know the first guy we both listed was who?
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Chapter 6: What arguments are made regarding Frank Thomas's legacy?
Big Hurt.
Of course, of course. I identify the White Sox with Frank Thomas. And hey, I covered the 2005 White Sox. I was there in Houston on the field talking to Frank Thomas. I remember asking him, like, hey, man, you played in 34 games for the White Sox. And he quickly, before I even really got to the question, he was like, I played a big part in this. And I was like, hell yeah, you did.
Not because 34 games, but because of Frank history and what he meant to the organization. He was all smiles, but it all went downhill after that. Unfortunately for the big guy.
The amount of joy I felt watching him destroy baseballs in Toronto, that sums it up for me. He had a 40-homer season with the Blue Jays, yes?
Yeah. Yes. Stay out of White Sox business. No, that was Oakland, right, when he did the stay out of White Sox business.
I believe so.
Because it's A's first, right? He's with the A's and then Toronto, I do believe. And then Texas? Or am I doing Sammy Sosa now?
I don't think it was... Texas.
I don't know. Was there a third team? We should know our Frank Thomas history. But we'll look that up at other things. And when we return on Rahimi Harris and Grody, we'll talk more Bears. I don't know if you heard, but one of our first guests here on this show in FM was Cole Komet. And he said some very interesting things, including about... his future, DJ Moore's future, Bears players' futures.
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