The Chicago White Sox should have been celebrating a successful weekend of SoxFest Live and getting fans stoked about the upcoming “Meaningful Step Forward” campaign in 2026 on Sunday.
Instead, the Sox were fending off another controversy by not commenting on the dumbest mistake since waiting for the end of a 21-game losing streak in 2024 to decide that Pedro Grifol wasn’t the right guy to manage the team.
This one was a social media-related error that should’ve been easy to rectify. But nothing is easy for Sox upper management.
It started when the social media department posted on X to celebrate the start of Black History Month that included mentions of the first Negro League All-Star Game at old Comiskey Park, former vice president Ken Williams being one of only two Black general managers to build a World Series champion, and Minnie Miñoso breaking the color barrier on the South Side.
In celebration of Black History Month, we reflect upon momentous firsts for the White Sox organization. pic.twitter.com/kCW4WmtamQ
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) February 1, 2026
All in all, there were 16 different items listed on the post’s timeline, boasting of the Sox’s rich history of prominent Black players, managers and executives (or executive in this case). Williams even gets two mentions.
What the list did not highlight was the career of Frank Thomas, the two-time Sox MVP who should’ve won a third, but finished runner-up to a juiced-up Jason Giambi in 2000. Thomas is the greatest player in Sox history and holds most of their significant offensive records. His No. 35 was retired and he had a statue erected of him in the bleachers.
He’s a hard guy to miss.
But somehow the Sox did indeed miss him. He’s only mentioned at the end of an item on Dick Allen, the first Black Sox player to win an MVP in 1972. The Sox even inserted an item for Danny Goodwin, who was the first Black player selected No. 1 in the draft. But Goodwin didn’t even sign with the Sox and had an undistinguished seven-year career in which he batted .236 with 13 home runs.
Why would the Sox include Goodwin and not the Big Hurt? Is anyone paying attention?
Thomas wasn’t the only Black player slighted. Jermaine Dye, the 2005 World Series MVP, also went unmentioned, as did Tommie Agee, the 1966 American League Rookie of the Year, and Tim Anderson, who won a batting title and was one of eight players and coaches who took a knee during the national anthem before a 2020 game to protest racial injustice against Black Americans.
It’s not easy making these kinds of lists. But certainly someone in the organization should’ve looked at it before posting and told the social media department try again. They had months to figure it out.
Thomas, who quietly has been separated from the organization since ending his gig as a pre- and postgame analyst for Sox broadcasts in 2024, was obviously miffed Sunday when he saw the tweet. Thomas responded to the post: “I Guess the black player who made you rich over there and holds all your records is forgettable! Don’t worry I’m taking Receipts!”
I Guess the black player who made you rich over there and holds all your records is forgettable! Don’t worry I’m taking Receipts!
— Frank Thomas (@TheBigHurt_35) February 1, 2026
Someone replied to Thomas’ remark by writing he should not let the Sox’s X account get to him, suggesting it was probably written by “a young kid who doesn’t know much about Sox history.” Thomas responded with a profanity to indicate that theory was nonsense.
Naturally, many fans supported Thomas and agreed that downplaying his career was insulting and unnecessary.
I’ve known Thomas for over 35 years now, having covered him during most of his prime with the White Sox. He’s a proud man, a stubborn man and a sensitive man. Sometimes he goes overboard when he feels he’s been slighted, but he’s never been afraid to speak his mind.
Thomas declined to add fuel to the fire when we spoke Sunday, saying the social media post speaks for itself. He confirmed that he no longer has a relationship with the organization and didn’t have any regrets. Right now, he’s focusing on his family and particularly the future of his son, Frankie Thomas III, a high school star at IMG Academy in Sarasota, Fla.
Frankie, a left-handed hitting first baseman and outfielder, is currently a junior and committed to Auburn, his dad’s alma mater. But Frankie figures to be a high draft pick in 2027, and several teams, including the Cubs, have already shown interest. Frankie is aiming high, saying he wants to be better than his dad.
Frank Thomas and I have a long and complicated relationship. We had some conflicts when I covered him as a beat writer for the Tribune, usually because he was in some sort of controversy that I had to report and write about.
I was gone by the time Thomas got into his well-chronicled fights with Williams near the end of his Sox playing days, when it looked like he would forever be separated from the organization. “He better stay out of White Sox business,” was Williams’ most memorable line about Thomas.
Fortunately, the Sox made amends with Thomas after his career ended and he was welcomed back, like most Hall of Famers are with their old teams.
But I’m afraid this separation is going to lead to a bitter divorce. It obviously began long before the post, which might have been the final straw for Thomas.
Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who turns 90 next month, is probably the only one who could step in and make things right. But he doesn’t seem interested, nor do the Sox, who could’ve simply apologized to Thomas on social media for the omission and ended it there. A Sox spokesman reached out to Thomas, sources said, but it didn’t help matters.
The Sox declined to comment Sunday when contacted by the Tribune, which is not surprising. With the start of spring training next week, they’d prefer to focus on the future — and Thomas is part of the past. I’m guessing they think the story will go away with the next news cycle, as it usually does.
The buck really stops at executive vice president Brooks Boyer, who is the ultimate boss of the social media department. Despite the team’s attendance woes, Boyer has managed to survive due to Reinsdorf’s well-known loyalty to his longtime employees. Loyalists Williams and former General Manager Rick Hahn were ultimately blamed for the Sox’s downfall in 2023 and let go, but Boyer and advisor Tony La Russa remain the last of the untouchables.
Boyer was last seen taking a victory lap at the mini-SoxFest, where he was interviewed in a fan video on X and talked about how the Bulls “keep losing games they should be winning.”
“I don’t know how they fix it,” Boyer said. “Let’s go. Figure it out.”
You’d think he’d worry more about the Sox’s problems, but whatever.
I don’t know how the Sox can mend their relationship with Thomas, but it’s up to Reinsdorf and Boyer to figure it out quickly.
If not, we’ll have to wait until Justin Ishbia takes over in three or more years for the best player in Sox history to feel welcome back at Sox Park.
Thomas deserves better.
So do Sox fans, who also have receipts.