Jim Thome speaks with former National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum President Jeff Thome during the Sunday Morning League Banquet held at Par-A-Dice Hotel and Casino in East Peoria on Sunday, May 1, 2022. I listened to Eidelson's story with a laugh. Photo credit: MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR/USA TODAY NETWORK
Jim Thome covered a trending topic on X Tuesday, but not for the reasons you might expect.
No, Thome did not retire and announce that he would be returning to MLB at age 53. No, Thome wasn't hired to be an MLB manager or anything. No, Thome wasn't kicked out of the Hall of Fame or anything weird.
Why has Thome become a trend? It's all thanks to “The Kirk Minihane Show.”
The Kirk Minihain Show is a podcast hosted by former Boston sports radio host Kirk Minihain, who produces three episodes a week. The producer of Minihane's show was Jack Coleman, who challenged him to name a top 10 list of players with the most career home runs in MLB.
Coleman named Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Sammy Sosa. It then took several hours to guess Frank Robinson, but he just arrived at the name by randomly combining people's first and last names.
of @kirkminshow The trend won't end until the producers announce the names of the top 10 home run hitters in MLB history.
After 21 hours, he finally gets Frank Robinson, but only #8 is missing. There's zero chance he'll figure it out, we might be here forever https://t.co/OiBQvXEHXK pic.twitter.com/ll3Ynn8dpL
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 5, 2024
Coleman had no intention of leaving the room until he was in the top 10. The show started on Monday, and Coleman needed to guess the remaining player on the list, Thome, so he remained in the room on Tuesday.
Even though Thome's wife called the show and gave hints about her husband's identity, Coleman still didn't get it. And even when Minihane mentioned that “Jim Thome” was trending, Coleman still didn't get it.
Kirk simply said, “Jim Thome is still trending on Twitter,” but Coleman is equally ill-advised. https://t.co/rKX1AzOLt1 pic.twitter.com/QOApI7JJkq
— The Kirk Minhane Show (@kirkminshow) March 5, 2024
As of this article's publication on Tuesday, Coleman had not yet named Thome. He may never understand it.
Thome hit 612 home runs during his 22-year MLB career. He's in the Hall of Fame. But Jack Coleman may not know him.
