Jim Thome hit his 600th home run.

Everyone who has ever read the Dugout sent me a message saying “hey, can’t wait to read the Thome Dugout”. He’s been our signature character for over seven years now. ESPN stuttered saying “Jim” and I couldn’t tell whether or not they did it on purpose. Maybe this dumb baseball webcomic will be erased and forgotten in a hundred years, but I hope the big goofy rosey-cheeked manchild we spotlit along the way gets his big shiny face in the Baseball Hall Of Fame and is never forgotten.

Today’s Dugout follows.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Minnesota Twins always have great commercials, but they’ve outdone themselves by adhering to one simple rule: dressing Jim Thome up as things = comedy. To advertise their series with the Tampa Bay Rays, the Twins dressed Thome as Paul Bunyan to express how much Jim is getting into the “Minnesota thing.” This is one of those times, like when Barry Bonds dressed up like Paula Abdul, that a Dugout pretty much has to be a transcript of what actually happened. Because come on, how do you make that funnier?

The video of said commercial is included after the jump, and make sure you watch it before reading today’s Dugout. Or watch and read at the same time, as they’re more or less the same thing. Tomorrow: Manny Ramirez starts traveling around the country planting seeds.

Read the rest of this entry »