Retirement Bits: Frank Thomas, Tom Glavine, Carlos Delgado

Here are some noteworthy baseball items on the morning:

FAIRWELL, FRANK

• At 11 am today, Frank Thomas, one of the best right-handed hitters of all time, will officially announce his retirement at US Cellular Field in Chicago. The Big Hurt ends his incredible 19-year Major League career with 521 home runs, 1704 runs batted in, 1667 walks, a final OPS+ of 156, and a to-die-for triple slash line of .301/.419/.555. Thomas also has 4 Silver Sluggers and 5 All-Star appearances to his name, as well as 6 top-5 MVP finishes and 2 MVP titles. And, of course, he has a World Series win under his belt, although it was likely somewhat bittersweet, as he was injured for most of 2005. The White Sox will retire Thomas’ number later today, and, once he is eligible in 5 years, I’m sure we’ll see him elected into the Hall of Fame.

GOODBYE, GLAVINE

• In addition to Thomas, another Hall of Famer has chosen to officially end an impressive playing career. Yesterday, the crafty left-hander, Tom Glavine, accepted an organizational role with the Atlanta Braves. The 43-year old will serve team president John Schuerholz as his “special assistant,” despite being somewhat angered by Schuerholz and Braves GM Frank Wren a season ago, after the pair decided to release Glavine unexpectedly. He will be in the front office from hereon in, but it is difficult to ignore the body of work Glavine produced while on the mound for Atlanta. He ends his 22-year career with a 3.54 ERA (ERA+ of 118) and a 305-203 record. Glavine owns 10 All-Star appearances, 6 top-5 Cy Young Award finishes, and 2 Cy Youngs. Plus, the veteran southpaw collected 20 or more wins in 5 separate seasons (1991-93, 1998, 2000). And, of course, Glavine helped Atlanta secure a World Series victory in 1995, posting a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings against Manny Ramirez and the Indians. Glavine won two games during that series and was later named the World Series MVP.

ADIOS, DELGADO?

• Finally, closing out a retirement post, we have 37-year old free agent, Carlos Delgado, who is pondering retirement while waiting to receive an adequate offer from someone after missing most of 2009 due to hip problems that required surgery. Delgado hit .298/.393/.521 in just 26 games with the Mets last year, and wants to continue playing, however, the interest just isn’t there. I’m actually surprised there aren’t more teams in on the powerful left-hander. If healthy, Delgado can still mash and his fielding has never really been terrible (you can live with his defense). The hip injury might have adversely affected his abilities with a glove and a bat going forward, but if I were the Mets, A’s, Giants, or even the Pirates, I would bid on him if he’s cheap.

Anyways, that’s it for now. Of course, I’ll be back with more later…

Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images