‘Big Hurt’ belongs

The first time Frank Thomas visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, he felt out of place. “I looked around – it was my first full year in the big leagues – and said, ‘I really don’t belong here yet,’ ” Thomas recalled Monday of that visit in 1991. “I want to make sure when I come back here I deserve to be here. I had high expectations in my career.” The former slugger they call the Big Hurt now belongs. He received 83.7 percent of the vote from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in his first year of eligibility and will join Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine as players inducted this summer. “It was a big dream. … I just feel very, very blessed in this moment in time.” The two-time A.L. MVP played 16 of his 19 big-league seasons with the White Sox. – AP