Frank Thomas was a franchise player representing the Chicago White Sox. In his first year as a candidate for the 2014 Hall of Fame ballot, he proudly entered the Hall of Fame with a whopping 83.7% of the vote.
He was a big, formidable player. He was nicknamed ‘Big Hurt’ by the opposing team. He is a giant with a height of 196 cm and a weight of 125 kg.
Because of his size, by the time he graduated from high school, he had been called up by football teams rather than baseball players. He was a natural genius who alternated sports between baseball, basketball and football from his high school days. He started to show his prominence already in high school.
He eventually won a scholarship to Auburn University, famous for its football team. He was more interested in baseball than football, so he focused more on baseball during his college years. The story about this is still being talked about a lot in American society. Immediately after graduating from college, he was named by the Chicago White Sox with the 7th overall pick in the major leagues in 1989 and played for the White Sox for 16 years until 2005.
The first time I met Frank Thomas was in 2000 when I started coaching the White Sox. I first met him at spring camp. At this time, the White Sox spring camp site was Tucson, Arizona. He was teaching catchers once, and Thomas came to the catcher’s practice range and gave him a fungo bat and asked him to swing golf. The fungo bat is a slightly longer and lighter bat than the bats used by players.
I’m sorry for telling my story, but I hope you understand that I can’t help it because I want to tell it as it is. At the time, the White Sox players had already heard about me. In particular, since Thomas is a home run hitter, he seems to have a lot of interest in me.
He gave me a fungo bat and told me to take a golf swing, so I said no, he surprised me and asked me to give him ten bucks because he had a charity golf tournament coming back. “Why pay ten dollars?” he asked.
Then, during the charity golf tournament, the players belonging to the major leagues, the front desk, and all the participating players bet 10 dollars, and the person who hits the furthest gets it. In the United States, minor league players and major league players often make these bets during spring training or season.
What I still cannot forget is that Tucson, Arizona is a city that is almost desert. Of course, the golf course is also made in the desert, but you don’t know how cool it is. I have never seen a golf course as beautiful as the Arizona golf course.
The golf course made of green grass in the desert, which is a dry land, was literally fantastic. As expected in the major leagues, the entire golf course was rented for a day at a charity golf tournament. To participate in this, many people have to make huge donations. All proceeds go to patients fighting leukemia, young boys and girls, and the disease.
At that time, when I took my golf clubs from Korea to the United States, they were old golf clubs. In particular, the drive was made of wood, not as elastic as it is now. I have not been able to compete with golf clubs. On top of that, major league players were really frighteningly big. Above all, these major league players tend to enjoy golf quite a bit both in season and out of season.
On the other hand, since I was a player, I had a fixed idea that I shouldn’t play golf, so I couldn’t play much. However, when I first joined the White Sox in 2000, coach Jerry Manual instructed me to bring golf clubs to spring training.
During the 45 days of spring camp, a charity golf tournament is held when there is only one day off. At this time, not only major league players, but all members of the White Sox team and people who flew from all over the United States to attend the tournament play in groups of four.
Major league players should be in line with those in attendance that day. Of course, I started playing as a team with people I had never seen before. It’s been a long time since I haven’t picked up a golf club, and to be honest, the drive was a mess until the 9th hole. However, with each round of the hole, my senses revived and my body slowly began to relax. The ‘Longest’ is installed on the 18th hole, the last course of the day.
Eventually, our group reached the final 18 holes. But what surprised me was that many people were all standing on the last 18 holes. I wondered why so many people came out and watched without entering the clubhouse. However, the story I hear from the side is that people are out on the 18th hole, the last course, to see me. That’s what Thomas was talking about.
He seems to have spread rumors, saying, “There is Mansoo-ri from Korea, and I gave him a fungo bat, and he swings frighteningly fast.” Because of this rumor, everyone came out to see how far Mansoo Lee from Korea could hit. It was my turn and I saw a white stake standing in the distance, but I was honestly not sure how far away it was. And if you don’t fly to the designated course even a little bit, you will be disqualified.
Two things should be correct. You must not deviate from the set course, and you must hit farther to be ranked. The player who hit the furthest was Paul Connorco, but the stakes were too far away to even imagine. When it was my turn, I prayed inwardly.
At that time, I was not good at English, so honestly, this was the only way I could introduce myself to them. So I prayed earnestly and hit hard with all my might. But like a lie, I got along the best that day. No, I’ve never had a close friend like this before, and I don’t think there will be any in the future.
How well the golf ball flew, but I jumped one more time in the middle to get the feeling of flying. There was an accident that fell in front of Connorko’s flag, which seemed far away. Many major league players and the general public cheered and clapped.
I won first place that day, and for three months I spent generously without receiving pocket money from my wife. Another time, during the 2000 season, there was the same charity golf tournament, and the coaching staff, all the players, and the general public who paid a lot of donations participated in the game.
On the same day, there were also the ‘Longest’ and ‘Nearest’ awards. In particular, the latest SUV vans and BMW cars were caught on every hole due to injuries to those who made a hole-in-one in the Nearest Hole.
You have to pay a $1 entry fee for each hole, and you can take your car with you when you get a hole-in-one. I also paid $1 per hole. Because of my injury, I really wanted to ride a modern SUV car. Because it was a major league, the sponsors were really great. On this day, too, I hit the farthest long hit in ‘Longest’. And I paid $1 each to make a hole-in-one, but it was all out of the hole.
I played on the last remaining Nearest hole course, and the people I played with in one group suddenly exclaimed. I was surprised too. The ball was about to go into the hole. I shouted ‘Please go in’ inside, but I got hit by a hole cup and it deviated a little to the side. Even now, when I think of that time, I can’t help but feel so sad. If he had gone in, he would have gotten a brand new SUV, BMW, which was caught with injuries.
On this day, after all the matches of the charity golf tournament, the winners of the ‘Longest’ and ‘Nearest’ were announced, and I took first place in both. As a result of that injury, I received two large Samsung TVs. He kept one at home and donated one to the White Sox clubhouse.
The next day, while I was playing, the announcer and commentator introduced me in detail while pointing at me for a long time, saying that Mansoo Lee in the bullpen had played both ‘Longest’ and ‘Nearest’ at yesterday’s charity golf tournament. I went home after the game, and his eldest son and youngest son excitedly delivered it to me.
Thomas once invited him to his house. He went to the address he was given, but the house didn’t appear. He looked around several times but couldn’t find it. Eventually, after going around a few times, I found the address I was given, but I didn’t see a house, only a big gate. The door was closed by an iron bar, but standing in front of the bar, the door opened by itself.
I went in through the open iron window, but I couldn’t see the house, only the road, and when I went inside, I saw a white mansion. From a distance, it felt like the White House in the United States. It is a wonderful and well-built house that has been featured in world-class magazines.
It took a long time for Thomas to show us around the house. There was a basketball court and swimming pool in the house, an indoor driving range and a movie theater, and there was also a beauty salon and billiard room.안전놀이터 The living room was also spacious. I still can’t forget
I spent six years with Thomas for the White Sox. He is a really great friend who always loves his family and loves baseball with the same attitude. And even though I was a stranger, he always treated me like a friend. Although we are far apart now, the memories of our old days together at the White Sox are still vivid no matter how many years have passed. I miss my old friend.
Lee Man-soo, former SK coach · Chairman of the Hulk Foundation