Jim Thome hit only 101 of his 612 home runs in a Phillies uniform. He was with them for only 391 of his 2,543 career games and never played in a single postseason game here. Most players who spend that small amount of time in a place are franchise footnotes. Thome, of course, became something much more in Philadelphia.
Sure, the bronze plaque that awaits him Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y., when he is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame will include a hat with a Cleveland Indians “C”, and that’s the way it should be.