Indians giving Thome a statue

As I noted earlier, last night was a amazing evening at Progressive Field. What happened on the field was magical, but it was already a special night before the game even started. On Jim Thome Night, the Indians brought back some of Gentleman Jim’s old teammates. Mike Hargrove, Sandy Alomar, Carlos Baerga, Paul Sorrento, and Chad Ogea all joined Thome and members of the Indians organization on the field prior to the game to celebrate his 600th home run. But the ceremony took an unexpected turn for the fans when Tom Hamilton announced that the Indians had commissioned a statue of Thome to be built in center field in Heritage Park. The plan is to place the statue at the spot where Thome’s 511 foot home run landed in July of 1999. It came as a surprise to Thome as well: “I mean, that’s surreal,” he said in the postgame clubhouse. “A statue — that’s as good as it gets. I’m speechless.” The statue will portray Thome ...