Jim Thome beame a trending topic on X Tuesday, and not for any reason you might expect.
No, Thome did not announce he was unretiring and making a return to MLB at age 53. No, Thome did not get hired to be an MLB manager or something like that. No, Thome did not get kicked out of the Hall of Fame or something crazy.
Why was Thome trending? It’s all because of “The Kirk Minihane Show.”
The Kirk Minihane Show is a podcast that produces three episodes per week and is hosted by former Boston sports radio host Kirk Minihane. The producer of Minihane’s show is Jack Coleman, who was challenged to name the top-10 list of players with the most career home runs in MLB.
Coleman named Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa. It then took him several hours to guess Frank Robinson, and he only arrived at that name by randomly pairing first names and last names of people.
The @kirkminshow stream isn't ending until the producer can name the top 10 home run hitters in MLB history.
At the 21 hour mark he finally got Frank Robinson and is only missing #8. There is zero chance he gets it, we might be here foreverhttps://t.co/OiBQvXEHXK pic.twitter.com/ll3Ynn8dpL
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 5, 2024
Coleman was not going to leave the room until he got the top 10. The show had begun on Monday, and Coleman remained in the room as of Tuesday needing to guess the remaining player on the list: Thome.
Even with Thome’s wife calling in to the show and giving hints about her husband’s identity, Coleman still did not get it. And even when Minihane mentioned that “Jim Thome” was trending, Coleman still didn’t pick up on it.
Kirk just said “Jim Thome still trending on Twitter,” and Coleman is none the wiser.https://t.co/rKX1AzOLt1 pic.twitter.com/QOApI7JJkq
— The Kirk Minihane Show (@kirkminshow) March 5, 2024
As of the time this story was published on Tuesday, Coleman still hadn’t named Thome. He may never figure it out.
Thome slugged 612 home runs during his 22-year MLB career. He’s in the Hall of Fame. But Jack Coleman may not know him.
