- Cleveland Guardians Analysis
On Jim Thome, fandom and life outside the Foul lines…
Oct 31, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC
Diamond Images/
On Wednesday, October 7th, the Cleveland Guardians traveled to Chicago to take on the White Sox for Game 3 of the ALDS. With a win, the White Sox would clinch a Playoff Series at Home for the first time in over 100 years. It would be only their 2nd ALCS appearance in over 100 years. Needless to say, everyone in and around the organization was a little excited; the players, fans, organization, alumni, and the small few who fall into multiple categories. More on that last one in a minute…
First, a little background on me, in case you’re wondering “who the hell is this guy?”; I’m Jake, a Cleveland sports fan my entire life. I was born in 1989 at the Jersey Shore, and grew up in the small town of Spring Lake, New Jersey. My Dad is from Youngstown, Ohio, and like what I assumed most Fathers did, passed his morals, religion, good hair and sports fandoms down to me. At a young age, I learned really quickly how much I was gonna live watching and playing sports. Growing up, I thought there was nothing cooler than watching the Cleveland Indians score 1,000 runs with my Dad. And still to this day, there isn’t much that can beat that.
Since birth, I’ve lived my entire life (outside of a brief D.C. tour for college) 7 hours East of most Cleveland sports fans. Some say it makes me a more dedicated fan since I’m so loyal to a team that I’ve never been physically close to. Others would suggest I don’t get it because I’m not immersed in it every day. There is no right or wrong there; I’m definitely somewhere in the middle. My only claim is that I hate the Yankees more than you ever could.
This is all to say, while I may not have a 330 or 216 area code, rest assured it kills me just as much when this team fails, we get mistreated by the national media or our Heroes don another team’s uniform.
To the point- I grew up in the 90’s. And while it was the worst time to be a kid that’s starting to watch football, I was the perfect age to start watching Cleveland baseball. Some of my fondest early memories are my Dad letting me stay up late to watch the Tribe, a team that was very good, quite often. I didn’t realize just how close we were and just how hard it was to get back. But I didn’t care yet, I just loved watching them play. Especially since everyone I knew was a Yankee fan. My team was just as good and I felt special since none of them knew a lick about my team while I knew everything about theirs. Naturally, an early hatred grew from that.
Those teams featured some great players. All Stars, MVP candidates, Hall of Famers and ultimately, Cleveland Legends. And if you grew up in the 90’s, there was a good chance that until Jose Ramirez came around, your favorite player was Jim Thome. For me, that was certainly the case. Kenny Lofton definitely had some time in there as well, but the more I started playing baseball myself, the more I realized I’m much more “power hitting first baseman” than I am a “speedy” anything at all. So yeah, Jim Thome, the Man.
I don’t need to tell you about Jim Thome. 600 Homerun club, all time Cleveland Homerun leader, 13 seasons, 3 time All Star and MVP candidate. He has a statue outside of our stadium and known to be one of the nicest guys in the game (you don’t get the name Gentleman Jim by mistake).
Jim wasn’t a lifetime Clevelander though. Like many big names before and after him, once Jim hit Free Agency he took off for a more lucrative offer. Considering where he was in his career and where the Tribe were headed at the time of his Free Agency (read; Rebuilding), it didn’t come as much of a surprise that he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies (that did NOT however stop me from crying in front of my friends on the way home from a 7th grade basketball game upon hearing said news). After three years with the Phillies, he was traded to the then defending World Series Champions White Sox, where he spent 4 pretty successful years both on the field and off, slugging against an up and coming and eventually extremely competitive Cleveland Indians team, while also growing his young family. It was there that it really hit home that Jim wasn’t Mr. Cleveland anymore.
A few years later he would return to Cleveland for a semi-Retirement tour, but upon actually retiring, Thome took a job in the White Sox Front Office, working with Fan outreach, alumni and eventually bigger roles like MLB network analyst, Assistant to the GM and President of the MLB Players Association.
In other words, for the last 13 years, the White Sox have provided Jim a Career outside of the foul lines that’s been just as long as his run in Cleveland as a player was. During this time, his children have grown up (as White Sox fans) and lived their entire lives in Chicago. And as a Father myself, I can say that that is pretty important. You can see it when Landon, Jim’s son was drafted by the White Sox this past summer. Everyone in his family was overcome with emotion, not just happy for Landon for getting drafted, but for being drafted HIS hometown team, the team he loved growing up. It was an incredible family moment for the Thomes.
Fast forward back to the American League Divisional Series this past month. Game 3. The White Sox have a chance at clinching something special. They brought out all the stops, including a “Black out” in the crowd. And when it was game time, and the cameras went searching for everyone’s favorite Chicagoans, there is Jim Thome, he of the 337 Homers in Cleveland that retired his number and gave him a STATUE, wearing all black as the Cleveland Guardians took the field.
This, upset a LOT of people. Maybe some comments were in jest, but there were calls to tear down the statue, to reissue the jersey number and to ban him from Cleveland all together. And while I was bummed to see him there supporting the White Sox, I thought to myself “what else would you expect?”.
Yes, as a player, he was Cleveland. We’ve covered that. But he hasn’t been a player for quite some time. What he HAS been for the last decade plus is a White Sox (that’s somehow the singular and plural, something I can never wrap my head around). The White Sox are his family’s team, it’s his job, it’s his life now. This isn’t to take away from his time in Cleveland, but it’s his current life, and one that has made him happy. So do you really expect him to show up to work on one of the biggest days of their franchise’s history, and start rooting for the opponent? Was that what people really expect of employees these days? They want the guy nicknamed ‘Gentleman Jim’ to spit in the face of his boss. Yeah, not gonna happen.
Look, I don’t like policing fandom. I did when I was younger and that now feels tacky and invasive. I just have a few rules I think all fans should follow.
- Never bother anyone who is minding their own business. And obviously leave kids alone/follow common decency.
- You represent the whole fanbase, city and team, for better or for worse, so take responsibility for your words and actions.
- If you talk the talk you better walk the walk. No one else should have to answer for your stupidity/audaciousness.
Otherwise, it’s pretty much all fair game. I root for multiple college football teams and I think my reasons are valid. Have I violated these rules before? Absolutely. Am I proud of it? Absolutely not. I understand that fandom gets the best and worst out of a lot of us and I am no different.
But here I think people need to use a little common sense. I believe Jim can be respectful of his past as a Cleveland Indian, while also supporting his organization. If we don’t like it, we probably should’ve hired him back in 2013. But alas, not the case.
So in closing, I’m not gonna tell you how to feel. If you’re angry because the guy you idolized growing up was supporting the White Sox, you have that right. If you don’t think it’s a problem at all, that’s also you’re right. For me, I’m just a little bummed. I freaking loved Jim Thome growing up. I don’t want him supporting them, but at the same time, he’s in their Front Office! He’s been there for a long time, living in Chicago where his kids grew up. The White Sox are his life now, and he’s not the guy to disrespect his bosses like some wanted him to. There is life outside of playing, and we got to see first hand what his is. And as much as I love the Guards and hate the AL Central rivals, I feel like given the situation, I’d do the same as he would. Because to guys like Jim Thome, there might be more to life than the Glory Days. Those will always remain, but in the past. That’s just not who he is anymore. And I think that’s ok.
So go ahead, call me a fair weather fan or tell me to stay on the East Coast. But I’m with Jim on this one (not as a White Sox fan, just as a guy who puts his family first and worries about baseball, well after). And I’ll be happy to welcome him back to The Jake as a special alumni, because your 9-5 also doesn’t erase those times we had. The two can co-exist.
And frankly, deep down I’m willing to bet he’s pumped Cleveland pulled off the comeback (ok maybe deep, DEEP down).
- Cleveland Guardians Analysis
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