Derek Jeter will effectively be unseating another Baseball Hall of Famer on the set of FOX Sports MLB.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported on Saturday that Frank Thomas is officially out at the network following the hire of Jeter. The move ends Thomas’ nine-year tenure at FOX Sports, where he had been working pregame shows for marquee baseball events such as the World Series and All-Star Game.
“Frank has been an integral member of the FOX MLB studio team for nearly a decade and has helped raise the bar on our coverage while continuously growing the game of baseball,” a FOX Sports spokesman said in a statement to the New York Post. “Although he is not a part of our coverage this season, ‘The Big Hurt’ will always be a member of our Fox Sports family and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Thomas, 54, played in Major League Baseball for 19 seasons from 1990-2008. He made five All-Star teams and won two AL MVPs before making the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. That was also the year Thomas joined FOX’s MLB coverage (and he provided many classic moments on the air).
As for Jeter, Marchand adds that he will debut for FOX in June during the MLB London Series. Reports recently emerged that the network had also checked in with another big-name baseball figure before hiring Jeter.
