According to those who watch this closer than we do, slugger Jim Thome looks to be in great shape to be elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. Sports Illustrated is reporting that Thome was named on more than 90 percent of the 217 ballots made public in advance of the vote.
A player needs 75 percent to get elected.
The "ballot tracker" cited in the Sports Illustrated post above is compiled by Ryan Thibodaux (@NotMrTibbs), and currently includes 237 of the 424 ballots expected to be cast. (Careful, it's a rabbit hole.)
Thome hit 37 of his 612 career home runs for the Twins when he played here during 2010 and most of the 2011 season.
Guessing here that you'd like to see a few of them.
Here's the 10th-inning home run he hit on August 16, 2010 to give the Twins a come-from-behind victory over the White Sox.
Here are Thome's 599th and 600th home runs, which he hit in Detroit on August 15, 2011.
And, finally, Thome had 26 triples over 22 season and 10,313 career plate appearances. He hit two of them with the Twins in 2010. Here's the second one, featuring the shocked call of Twins broadcaster Dick Bremer.
