Mike Nadel: 500 close enough for Thome to taste it

Thirty-nine months ago, in the hours after belting Home Run No. 400, Jim Thome did something he rarely has done during his stellar big-league career: He let his mind wander toward a future homer he hoped to hit.

And believe it or not, he wasn't thinking about No. 500.

"I wondered how it was gonna feel when I got to 499," Thome said. "Would my family be able to experience the moment and the anticipation with me? Would I be able to relax and enjoy it? How excited would I be?"

On Wednesday, the Chicago White Sox slugger got his answer: "It's pretty awesome. I guess it's reality now."

In his second at-bat against his former team, the Cleveland Indians, Thome tore into a Jake Westbrook pitch and lined the baseball over the right-field fence.

The sparse weekday afternoon crowd got very loud, and those in Thome's personal rooting section -- his father, Chuck, twin sister, Jenny, wife, Andrea and 4-year-old daughter Lila Grace -- were hugging, jumping and screaming themselves hoarse.

"After that one, it was kinda, 'Whoa, you're getting close,' " he said. "The fans were getting into it. You could feel the excitement in the dugout. My little girl was jumping around. My wife ... looking at my dad ... my sister. That's the great thing about baseball ... you come together not only as teammates but families as well."

Because the big kid from Peoria is one of the great guys in all of sports, it's impossible not to root for him. He is about to become the 23rd member of Major League Baseball's 500 Home Run Club, and it's wonderful to see him revel in every moment.

"The destination will be special, of course, but the journey has been great, too," he said. "The unknown, the when-will-it-happen, the competition, the striving, it's all special to me."

Thome wanted to end the suspense and become the first player ever to hit 499 and 500 the same day. He took big rips in subsequent at-bats, delivering two singles -- one good for two RBIs in the White Sox's 7-4 victory -- and also launching a long foul.

"I think I almost fouled it out of the stadium," he said. "I got a little quick."

Things will slow down a little for him now. The Sox are off today, so he'll have to wait until Friday night for another shot at 500. Players chasing significant milestones often struggle as they get close. Not Thome, who is batting .440 with four HRs and 10 RBIs in the last week.

"It's always nice to have an off-day," he said. "But when you're swinging the bat well, you definitely want to continue to play."

Thome hopes to recover his 500th homer baseball. In exchange, he is ready to offer "a nice package" that will be "fun for the fan."

"The ball doesn't belong in anybody's basement, including my own," he said. "It belongs in the Hall of Fame."

Thome belongs in the Hall, too.

He has the statistics. He has been very productive for some outstanding teams. And he has been one of the dominant sluggers of his era. Put those facts together with his enormous list of charitable causes and the love everybody has for him, and it really should be a no-brainer for Baseball Writers Association of America voters. Not only will I vote for him, but I also will champion his cause when he becomes eligible.

First things first, though: No. 500.

He'll go to the plate recalling the words of his mentor, Charlie Manuel, who was Cleveland's hitting coach during Thome's first six big-league seasons. The two reunited in 2005, when Manuel was hired as Philadelphia's manager. Thome was traded to the White Sox the following offseason.

"We talked on the phone about two weeks ago," Thome said. "It was all about controlling your emotions, controlling your anxiety level.

"It's a matter of going out and not really thinking about it -- but it's tough. Hitting home runs is tough when you're trying to do it and everybody wants you to do it."

If he thought everybody wanted him to do it before, now the anticipation level really will be high.

After all, three years and three months after he first gave it a thought, Jim Thome is at 499 -- and counting.

Mike Nadel (mikenadel@sbcglobal.net) is the Chicago sports columnist for GateHouse News Service. Read his blog, The Baldest Truth, at www.thebaldesttruth.com <http://www.thebaldesttruth.com> .