Thome built his case for Cooperstown long before Monday night, when he hit career home runs 599 and 600, becoming just the eighth major leaguer to reach the plateau.
Only the great Babe Ruth needed fewer career at-bats — 6,921 — to reach 600 homers. Thome did it in 8,167.
Sounds like the makings of a Hall of Fame profile, right? But, because of recent suspicions over performance-enhancing drugs — and suspicion is all it amounts to — many with voting power look at anyone who has played during the past 25 years with a raised eyebrow. And it's obviously affected Hall of Fame voting.
We're not just talking about Mark McGwire or Rafael Palmeiro, both of whom defied Congress. Jeff Bagwell, a better player than either of them — better than Thome, too — got 41.7 percent of the vote his first time on the ballot. Can Thome expect the same kind of underwhelming results down the road? Read more:
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