Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox is a big man at six-feet-four inches and 240 pounds. Because his size enables him to smash the baseball and hurt opposing pitchers' statistics with his hitting, Thomas has earned the nickname "The Big Hurt." In 1993 he hurt American League pitching badly enough to become only the tenth player in major league history to be the unanimous choice as Most Valuable Player (MVP) and he repeated as MVP in 1994. He has become a great player through hard work and a desire to learn all he can about hitting. Only in his later twenties, Thomas should be hurting major league pitching for many years to come.

Frank Edward Thomas Jr. was born May 27, 1968, in Columbus, Georgia, the fifth of six children. His father, Frank Sr., worked for the city and was a deacon at the local Baptist Church. His mother, Charlie Mae, worked...