Thomas Confident in Hall of Fame Resume

Former Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas recently told the media he was confident about his 2014 Hall of Fame candidacy at the annual SoxFest. Such a positive outlook for The Big Hurt could be perceived as strange after a grand total of zero players were elected to the Hall on this year's ballot. Thomas' name will appear on the ballot for the first time next year and his confidence may be justified for one reason: steroids.

Frank Thomas belted 521 home runs in his 19 seasons and ended his career with a .301 batting average. Those are easily Hall of Fame numbers and they may look even better now that the wave of Steroid Era players has littered the ballots. Thomas never did steroids and when the Mitchell Report was released in 2003 he was the ONLY player who volunteered to be interviewed. He has passed every drug test and has hardly been in question, which is ultra-rare for a player that laced up the cleats in the 2000s.

Despite his numbers and his two MVP awards, Thomas still may not get the call in his first year. Craig Biggio surpassed the 3,000 hit plateau during his career, but he came up short in his first year. Biggio has not been linked to steroids and 3,000 hits is a number that ensures enshrinement, but voters have balked at nearly every player who played during the infamous Steroid Era.

Thomas deserves to be in on his first try and voters need to recognize and celebrate those who did things the right way. Today's fans have a skewed vision of 500 home runs. It's almost as if Thomas' 521 home runs aren't that impressive because we saw the likes of Bonds, McGwire and Sosa belt far more. However, they had the aid of PEDs and Thomas did it through pure talent. That's something we should celebrate.

These guys like Thomas, Biggio, Glavine and Maddux should all be inducted next year. In an era where there are fewer Hall of Fame-caliber players to abstain from PEDs than take them, the amount of players voted in may be slim. To hold out on electing those who were clean would be a true tragedy. Yes, there were those who did things the wrong way, but that's no reason to forget an entire era of players. My advice to the voters: reward the men who were clean and elect them immediately.

It will be a sad summer for baseball with no Hall of Fame election weekend and the game needs some good news. The game needs a celebration. Why not celebrate Thomas and others who are Hall of Fame worthy and are clean? The game and its fans need that sort of celebration.

Frank Thomas has a right to be confident, but I can't say I share his confidence fully. I want him to be elected next year and I think he should be, but after this year I'm unsure of what the voters will do. One thing is for sure: Frank Thomas is a Hall of Famer and he will be in Cooperstown before it's all said and done.