Frank Thomas Marquee

The 1962 Mets lost 120 games, more than any club has since, and he hit 34 home runs and drove in 94 for them at thirty-three, which was most of the offense they had. He was the first of that franchise's sluggers and the only reason a few of those afternoons were worth watching.

Sixteen seasons gave him 1,671 hits, 286 home runs, 962 runs batted in and a .266 average, with three All-Star selections. Eight of them were in Pittsburgh, where his best season, 1958, gave him 35 home runs, 109 runs batted in, 158 hits and fourth place in the Most Valuable Player voting, two writers putting him first.

He is not the Frank Thomas who hit 521 home runs for the White Sox forty years later; there have been two, and this is the first. He was known for catching thrown balls bare-handed to entertain crowds. No writers' ballot ever listed him. He died in 2023, at ninety-three.