Can someone tell me why the Chicago Tribune feels the need to bash Frank Thomas, possibly the greatest hitter this town has ever seen, at every turn? The day after his ankle injury prematurely ended his 2005 season, and possibly his Hall of Fame career, the Trib ran a retrospective article detailing Frank’s career lowlights, miscommunications and perceived petulance. How inappropriate; isn’t that the definition of “adding insult to injury”? Now, desperate for some negative Sox spin after a World Series and triumphant start to the off-season, the paper decided to play that same card again in an insulting column today by Rick Morrissey.

Only read Morrissey’s article if you need practice rolling your eyes. For years we’ve been hearing about how Frank Thomas never won Chicago over, how he could have owned the city if he conducted himself better, etc. The reality is the media itself fueled a lot of the bad vibes that surrounded Frank over the years. They created the hype monster of Sammy Sosa, one of the single most counterfeit individuals in the sport, and then denigrated Frank for not feeding them phony sound bytes, home run hops and chest taps. Frank was never a big talker. His role was not in front of a microphone, or as a vocal clubhouse leader. He was a hitter. After 1997 when a lot of things came crashing down in his life, and his skills betrayed him for a while, the media was all too happy to show Frank as a brooding, selfish malcontent.

Sox fans have always appreciated the Big Hurt, though his stock did temporarily drop for a few seasons during the fog of the Terry Bevington era, and have never voiced their support more than during the standing ovations that greeted him every step of the way in 2005. His first at bat in June, each of his 9 home field homeruns, his ceremonial first pitch in the playoffs and his introduction at the World Series were all received with a barrage of well-deserved admiration. Chicago fans have embraced Frank, they }have seen the smile on the big man’s face and they have forgiven him for any messiness in the past. That’s all true, regardless of whether it was captured in the Tribune sports section, whose hand isn’t exactly on the pulse of the city.

If there’s past love to be made up for, it’s on the side of the media, not the fans. Instead of a disparaging lament, the Chicago media should be celebrating Frank’s untainted legacy with the Sox as one of the greatest hitters in the modern era of baseball. In the steroid era, that means more than ever. Compare Morrissey’s smear job with this much more balanced article from Greg Couch at the Sun Times. Couch gets it. Morrissey does not. In the end Frank got that Word Championship ring he longed for and deserved for so long. Where is Sammy Sosa now, anyway?