The Questions With Frank Thomas

What was your welcome-to-the-big-leagues moment?
My first spring training, [teammate] Steve Lyons and [broadcaster] Jay Johnstone pulled a prank on me. They were miked up and had a camera hidden at this restaurant. They set it up that the food they brought me was all really, really bad. Terrible. I was trying to be polite, but I was making these faces, and they caught it all on camera. They showed it to the team, and it wound up on national TV.

What was your most embarrassing moment?
In Chicago, 1994 or 1995. It was a 2--2 game, and I was on base. I thought there were two outs, but there was just one. Ball was hit in the air, and I ran and got doubled off. We lost 3--2.

If I were commissioner for a day, I'd ...
put the schedule back the way it was when every team went to every city twice.

If I weren't playing baseball, I'd be ...
involved with sports somehow, either as a football coach or basketball coach.

LAST WEEK
Thomas, 39, hit his 494th home run, passing Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff for 21st alltime.

NEXT WEEK
Thomas and the Blue Jays host the White Sox, for whom Thomas played from 1990 to 2005, winning two MVP awards and driving in 1,465 runs.