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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Toronto Blue Jays, you might say, have a slightly different perspective, being that Frank Thomas was hitting .167 with more angry puffs of smoke coming out of his ears (many) than homers (three) when they released him on April 20.
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| Thomas is looking for smiles and success in his Oakland reunion. (Getty Images) |
The view from Thomas?
"Business took me away, and business brought me back," he said before the opener of Oakland's three-game series here Monday night. "It was a no-brainer for me to come back when things didn't work out in Toronto."
Just call him the Big Businessman.
Maybe you've heard, but things "didn't work out in Toronto" because Thomas' batting average was among the lowest of any regular in any American League lineup, and the Blue Jays had this thing going where they just wanted to, you know, win.
And they didn't feel like sitting around and playing Scrabble or something while waiting for Thomas to start swinging the pole. So manager John Gibbons removed him from the lineup, the Big Hurt went into a Big Rage, he wasn't around to shake his teammates' hands after the next day's game and, well, that's how you get out of the remainder of a two-year, $18.12 million deal.
The Blue Jays were funny in that they didn't want a glowering, unhappy guy around to poison their clubhouse, so they ate the rest of the salary and told Frank goodbye.
"I felt like I was never used properly there," says Thomas, who slugged 39 homers and collected 114 RBI in Oakland in 2006 to position himself for that big Toronto offer. "I had a big year here, and then I went there and it didn't seem like I was brought over there to be the main RBI guy.
"Their future was Vernon Wells and Alex Rios, and they batted them fourth. I never hit out of my comfort zone for so long. I was in the five hole, six hole most of the year ... I've never been in that position my whole 18-year career.
"There were so many different people hitting behind me. I've been in the game too long, and if you don't protect me ... last year, our offense was bad and they didn't use me in the fourth or fifth spots. Only a few times."
It should be noted that Thomas was the Jays' cleanup hitter on opening day, 2007. Another slow start last year -- he hit .250 in April with four homers -- led to other things.
"After having so many big years, you've got a situation where you're grooming guys who are going to be stars but they've never done it," Thomas says, continuing his assessment. "Don't get me wrong, they gave me a couple of opportunities at the end of the year in the four hole, and that's when I took off.
