Jim Thome went deep twice Saturday to tie and then pass Harmon Killebrew for 10th place on the all-time home run list with 574 and as he got back into the dugout following the second blast the Twins played a pre-taped congratulatory video message from Killebrew on the Target Field jumbotron.
It was a very nice touch and clearly meant a lot to Thome, who spent the next couple minutes bear-hugging anyone he could find in the dugout. Thome surpassing the Twins’ great while wearing a Minnesota uniform was fitting, although technically the last 14 homers of Killebrew’s career came for the Royals (and the first 84 homers of his career came for the Senators, who later became the Twins).
Not only are Thome and Killebrew two of the elite power-and-patience sluggers in baseball history, their career numbers are remarkably similar despite playing in two very different eras and offensive environments:
G PA AVG OBP SLG OPS+ HR RBI BB Killebrew 2435 9831 .256 .376 .509 143 573 1584 1559 Thome 2340 9619 .277 .404 .557 146 574 1592 1646
Thome edges Killebrew by 21 points in batting average, 28 points in on-base percentage, and 46 points in slugging percentage, but his leads are largely due to playing at a time when runs are far more plentiful. As a whole the league has a .272 batting average and .772 OPS during Thome’s career, compared to a .259 batting average and .724 OPS during Killebrew’s career. That’s a 48-point difference in league OPS and the actual gap between their OPS is 77 points.
All of which is why Thome holds just a slight edge (146 to 143) in adjusted OPS+, which takes eras and ballparks into account. And the rest of the raw numbers are amazingly close. Games: 2,435 to 2,340. Plate appearances: 9,831 to 9,619. Homers: 574 to 573. RBIs: 1,592 to 1,584. Walks: 1,646 to 1,559. Along with Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, and Barry Bonds they are two of just five players ever with 500 homers, 1,500 RBIs, 1,500 walks, and 1,500 strikeouts.
