Jim Thome laughs as he reads an article by Jeff Idelson, former chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, during the Sunday Morning League banquet on Sunday, May 1, 2022, at Par-A-Dice Hotel and Casino in East Peoria. Photo credit: MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR / USA TODAY NETWORK
Jim Thome has become a trending topic on X Tuesday, and not for the reason you might expect.
No, Thome didn’t announce that he was retiring and returning to MLB at age 53. No, Thome wasn’t hired to be an MLB manager or anything like that. No, Thome wasn’t kicked out of the Hall of Fame or something crazy.
Why did Thome become trendy? It’s because of “The Kirk Minihane Show.”
The Kirk Minihane Show is a podcast that produces three episodes per week and is hosted by former Boston sports radio host Kirk Minihane. The producer of Minihane’s show is Jack Coleman, who was challenged to name the top 10 players with the most career home runs in MLB.
Coleman listed Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa. It then took him several hours to guess Frank Robinson, and he arrived at the name only by randomly combining people’s first and last names.
THE @kirkminshow The stream won’t stop until the producer can name the top 10 home run hitters in MLB history.
After 21 hours he finally got Frank Robinson and all he needs is number 8. There’s no way he’s getting it, we could be here foreverhttps://t.co/OiBQvXEHXK pic.twitter.com/ll3Ynn8dpL
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 5, 2024
Coleman wasn’t going to leave the room until he had the top 10. The show had started Monday, and Coleman was still in the room Tuesday, guessing the remaining player on the list: Thome.
Even though Thome’s wife called in during 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 just said, “Jim Thome is still trending on Twitter,” and Coleman has no idea.https://t.co/rKX1AzOLt1 pic.twitter.com/QOApI7JJkq
— The Kirk Minihane Show (@kirkminshow) March 5, 2024
As of this article’s publication Tuesday, Coleman had yet to name Thome. He may never know.
Thome hit 612 home runs in his 22-year MLB career. He’s a Hall of Famer. But Jack Coleman may not know him.
