In particular, I still remember the 2001 season. While playing defense, Thomas injured his arm trying to stop a line drive at first base and had to miss some time. After missing a few games, newly acquired teammate David Wells decided to attack Thomas: "If you don't have the guts to be out there, you know what, you don't need to be here. . . . Playing hurt will get you a lot more respect from your fellow players."

Someone like Thomas shouldn't be kept out over something seemingly insignificant. What is interesting about that quote isn't that Wells shot his mouth off. What I remember is the Chicago media reporting some of the other White Sox privately congratulated Wells for saying that. Something as big as Thomas wasn't supposed to be fragile.

However, a week after Wells made his announcement, team doctors announced that Thomas couldn't play. In their opinion, he had to be shut down for the year.