Thome makes Philly return

PHILADELPHIA – Ozzie Guillen stopped Jim Thome in the visitor’s clubhouse hallway Monday and looked serious.

“You know why you’re not playing, right?” the Chicago White Sox manager asked his slugger.

Thome’s eyes widened as if he missed some horrible, breaking news.

“I don’t want them to have to boo my favorite player!” Guillen said, breaking into hysterical laughter as he hugged a smiling Thome.

Not even the notoriously coarse Philly fans would boo one of their former favorite players – and all-around nice guy – like Thome. Right?

They didn’t get a chance to react either way on Monday night as Thome was out of the White Sox lineup against the Phillies. Without the designated hitter for this interleague series, Thome wasn’t expected to get a start in his first trip back to Philadelphia since 2005 until Wednesday.

“When I was here, I had a wonderful time,” Thome said. “I appreciate the fans and the support they gave me here. They took me and my family in.”

Even Thome, once considered the Phillies franchise player when he signed as a free agent in the winter of 2002, wondered what kind of reaction he would receive. He was booed when he returned to Cleveland, but understood that Indians fans felt he deserted them for big bucks.

In Philly, it was different. Thome was loved from his first day in Philly because he was viewed as the slugger who could put the Phillies over the top and back into the World Series.