Frank Thomas is turning into the Wild Bull of the Pampas–i.e., Luis Firpo, who once fought Jack Dempsey. The White Sox slugger was on the rage for the second consecutive game here in the seventh inning Thursday, when he was displeased with an umpire’s strike call.
Rather than risk his being ejected, three teammates–Robin Ventura, Lyle Mouton and Dave Martinez–restrained him from returning to the field.
“It wasn’t easy,” Martinez said. “Frank weighs 275 pounds.”
Frank didn’t reach his goal–home-plate umpire Mike Reilly. But for about 20 to 30 seconds, there was considerable push and pull–mostly between Thomas and Ventura, who have been big buddies since they shared an apartment in Chicago when Thomas first reported to the White Sox in August 1990.
“There was just a little disagreement that happened on the team,” cautioned Sox manager Terry Bevington. “That’s all I’ll have to say about it.”
Such a “little disagreement” isn’t uncommon and can bind a team together. The White Sox don’t need much more, if any, bonding. Still, a brief shoving match in the dugout, or in a chartered aircraft–I have seen both–won’t have an adverse affect in the pursuit of a pennant.
“I liked it,” said Tony Phillips, the gung-ho outfielder who is constantly emphasizing the team concept of one-for-all and all-for-one. “It was a thing of beauty. It shows you we care.”
Asked if it would help awaken the Sox, Phillips replied:
“We’re already awake. We’re playing hard. It’s something that happened in the heat of the moment. It’s like a family fight between brothers and sisters. When it’s over, you either laugh or cry. But you always wind up hugging each other.”
It was crucial Thomas didn’t get thrown out of the game. Down 6-0 since the third inning, the Sox were trailing just 7-3 and in the midst of what could have been a successful seventh-inning rally. With one out and runners at first and third, Thomas was upset on the first called strike.
Reliever Jeff Nelson then fanned him on a breaking pitch for the second out. Thomas returned to the bench but tried to go after umpire Reilly after Harold Baines flied to left for the third out.
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Thomas had been given the heave-ho in Wednesday night’s game, also for disagreeing on a called strike. It was believed to be only the second ejection during his big-league career. After the Wednesday game, Thomas said he was angered by a call because “we’re trying to win a pennant and the umpire wasn’t bearing down.”
Thomas refused to respond to questions after Thursday’s game. He was the last player out of the shower and marched quickly to his locker, which was surrounded by a dozen members of the media.
“I’ve got nothing to say, guys,” he told them. “Please, don’t come over here.”
About 15 minutes later, Thomas was dressed and aboard the team bus for the trip to the airport and back to Chicago. It was the final game of a three-city, 10-game road tour. The Sox open a weekend Comiskey Park series Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles.
“It was a good trip,” Bevington said.
The Sox went 6-4 but failed to gain ground on the Cleveland Indians, who are seven games in front in the American League Central.
The Yankees won the Thursday game 8-4. But there was this consolation: Left-hander Mike Bertotti, working middle relief, gave up only four hits and two runs in 4 2/3 innings, the second longest stint by a Sox reliever this season.
“Bertotti was excellent,” Bevington said. “We had one big inning. It was too bad we couldn’t get anything else going.”
As for Thomas, there is a possibility he may apologize to his teammates, but even if he doesn’t, it isn’t a big deal. As one of the Sox coaches said, “Frank knows the strike zone better than a lot of umpires.”