Frank Thomas Rips Fox News After Network Reported He Died
Fox News showed the wrong Frank Thomas in its tribute.
Frank Thomas is making sure everyone knows he's alive and well. On Friday morning, the Fox News show The Faulkner Focus ran a video that show notable people who have died in 2023. One of the people shown was the Baseball Hall of Famer who is known for his time with the Chicago White Sox. But the wrong Frank Thomas was shown as the program meant to pay tribute to another MLB played named Frank Thomas who was born in 1929 and died on Jan. 16 at the age of 93.
The 55-year-old Thomas went to social media to clarify he is alive. "Ladies and Gentlemen I'm very sorry my ex employer Fox would be this irresponsible on National TV this morning," Thomas wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). "Yes I'm alive and doing well. This blows my mind also."
Fox News released a statement about the error. "We misidentified Frank Thomas, the three-time All-Star for the Pittsburgh Pirates," anchor Julie Banderas said, per USA Today. "The Frank Thomas we showed you unfortunately was also a former pro baseball. He is very much alive."
The living Frank Thomas played in MLB from 1990 to 2008. He played 16 seasons with the Chicago White Sox before joining the Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays and the Athletics again for his final season. In his career, Thomas, who played first base and was a designated hitter, was named to the All-Star team five times, won the Silver Slugger Award four times and was named AL MVP in 1993 and 1994. In his career, Thomas hit 521 home wins with 1,704 RBIs. After his playing career came to an end, Thomas spent time in the broadcasting booth, working for TBS, Fox Sports and currently Apple TV+. Thomas was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014.
"I'm so humbled and honored to be a part of this historic class of first-ballot Hall of Famers," Thomas said at the time, per AL.com. "To share the stage in front of all the legendary men who made the game better for us all, I'm speechless." The Frank Thomas who died in January played for multiple teams from 1951 to 1966. He was named an All-Star three times and hit 286 home runs in his career.