RIP Frank Thomas - My Very First Cubs Card

 On Monday morning, slugger Frank Thomas passed away at the age of 93.  To many he was "the other Frank Thomas" since a hall of famer by the same name started playing in the early 1990s.

He had his best years with the Pirates and he was an original Met.  But he also spent some time with the Cubs and has a special place in my Cubs collection.

This well-worn 1961 card of Thomas is the very first Cubs card I owned.  It was given to me by my cousin in 1967 or 1968 when I was five or six years old (you can read more about how I got the card here).  The card was the only way I had ever heard of Frank Thomas and he was long gone from the Cubs when I got the card.  But it was a Cubs card and that is all that mattered to me.

So rest in peace Frank Thomas, the man on my very first Cubs card.