MLB Hall of Famer Frank Thomas Files Lawsuit Against Ex-Team White Sox for Selling His Jerseys Without Consent

Frank Thomas spent 16 of his 19 major league seasons with the Chicago White Sox from 1990 to 2005 and won 2 AL MVPs and 1 World Series title with them.

MLB Hall of Famer Frank Thomas Files Lawsuit Against Ex-Team White Sox for Selling His Jerseys Without Consent

Frank Thomas (Image via MLB)

Frank Thomas took a major step against his former employees, the Chicago White Sox last week. The MLB Hall of Famer reportedly filed a lawsuit against the AL Central team, Nike, Fanatics and Fanatics Apparel for selling his jerseys without his consent.

According to reports from TMZ Sports, the 2-time American League MVP filed this lawsuit in Illinois on March 19. The White Sox had been selling their “City Connect 2.0” jerseys with Thomas’ name and his retired number 35.

He expressed that the parties involved had violated the Illinois Right to Publicity Act by selling jerseys with his name and number on the back without any consent or compensation. The 57-year-old has asked for a sum of $50,000 in response to the damages he has suffered.

Thomas spent 16 of his 19 seasons in the MLB with the White Sox. He made his debut in 1990 and played with the White Sox until 2005.

During his time, he would earn the moniker “The Big Hurt” as he demolished pitchers with his impressive batting skills while playing as the designated hitter (DH). He was part of the team that won the World Series in 2005 against the Houston Astros.

After retiring in 2008, Thomas’ number 35 was retired in 2009. In 2014, he was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.

As per the complaint, “Big Hurt” had become a trademark moniker for Thomas. With his lawsuit, he is trying to prevent such type of things happening with others.

A big part of Frank’s motivation is to ensure that guys like him who have worked so hard for their whole careers to establish a brand are not then exploited and taken advantage of.

Attorney William Gibbs said regarding Frank Thomas’ lawsuit as per Chicago Tribune

As per the Chicago Tribune, the White Sox and Nike refused to make a comment regarding this matter. Meanwhile, Fanatics did not answer the request to comment.

Frank Thomas was recently left upset with White Sox

Frank Thomas sued his former team, the Chicago White Sox, last week after they sold his jerseys without his consent. While his lawyers claim that he is not upset with the team regarding this, he was upset by them recently.

Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas (Image via ClutchPoints)

Like every team, in February, the White Sox celebrated Black History Month. On the first day of the month, the team made a post on social media and celebrated former members like Al Smith, Danny Goodwin, and Dick Allen.

The post also included the name of their current manager, Will Venable. It highlighted him becoming the third African American manager and being one of the two active Black MLB managers.

The one name they snubbed in this list was Frank Thomas. The 5-time MLB All-Star has 2,468 hits, 521 home runs and 1,704 RBIs. Despite this massive numbers, his name was not included.

This was something that left him upset. On a post on X, the 4-time Silver Slugger took a shot at his ex-team and expressed that he was keeping receipts.

I Guess the black player who made you rich over there and holds all your records is forgettable! Don’t worry I’m taking Receipts!

Frank Thomas on X

Thomas’ tweet would blow up later. It received over 11.8 likes, highlighting the support he received from the fans on social media regarding this snub from his ex-team.

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