A wiser man than I once said that time is the great enemy of memory, turning coal into diamonds and plating lead with the most radiant gold. I suspect the author was talking about something substantial like youth or beauty, but it seems these wise words have fit themselves onto the sporting news from the South Side of Chicago.

Frank Thomas tells the Sun-Times today that he:

“. . . wasn’t done. It was just going to be a while before I could do what I do. I knew that. I know I’m a special talent. I hate to say that. But you know what you’ve got inside and what you’ve worked for at every level. I just knew I had three or four good years left. Not good years. Great years.”

Of course we all remember Frank’s golden years in a Sox uniform. The two MVP seasons that should have been three. The monster home runs. The rebar. American League pitchers teetering on nervous breakdown whenever No. 35 stepped into the batter’s box. The only reason, at times, to keep cheering for this team.

And for a while, it was spectacular. But what people seem (or might just want) to forget is that Frank’s decline was not an abrupt one, nor was his exodus from the South Side entirely unexpected. In 2004, you may recall, injuries limited Frank to 74 games and, quite probably, kept the Sox out of the playoffs. In 2005, you may also recall, the Chicago White Sox won that most elusive prize not just without Frank, but almost in spite of him. (Carl Everett? Come on.)

So when the team came to the crossroads that November, you have to consider the choices available:
a) gamble on a large, aging hitter to somehow improve the team despite playing a combined 108 games across the previous two seasons
b) gamble on the so-so bat of Carl Everett
c) gamble on a similar large, aging hitter who was at least slightly less injury-prone at the time but had the advantage of being left-handed

Sentimentality aside, the decision seemingly made itself but, more importantly, it’s hard to imagine even the most wide-eyed Sox fan saying “We’re going to be awesome in 2006 once we get Frank back!” All things considered, the Sox at the time were as good as they ever were (and may ever be again), and they got there without Frank’s help. No one doubts his belief in the great years he had left in him, but the larger question is one of how many useful years he had left and when, if ever, he would assemble them; for all intents and purposes, Frank’s tenure didn’t end when the Sox acquired Jim Thome but during a game against the Angels two years prior. Frank went 0-for-3 that day, but in the 8th when a Francisco Rodriguez fastball went in the dirt for ball four, Frank set his bat down, started towards first, and walked on forever.