Have you ever wondered why some players are slow starters? Is it the colder weather and they need to warm up with the warmer temperatures? There have been many famous slow starters in baseball history and no one seemed to worry because when June and July kicked in, the homers would be flying over the fence or the strikeouts would start piling up. Remember the year that Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa dueled for the new homerun record, McGuire started out fast and had a bunch of homers by the All Star break. Sosa came out of nowhere by hitting 20 homers in June. Sosa starts slowly and has started slowly this year. His average and RBI are there, but the homers haven't started flying yet. They will.

Mike Piazza is another slow starter but come August and September, he will be humming as usual. Pat Burrell has started slowly again. Greg Maddux has had a spectacularly slow start, but he didn't start like a gang of fire last year either. Once the weather warms up, he'll be there with his customary 18 wins.

But when a slow starter starts quickly, you have a career year. Jim Thome is defying every slow start he has ever had. He is also defying the notion that starting in a new league is difficult. He is currently hitting .340 with 12 RBI already. He even has two triples! Just imagine Thome running and then imagine him with two triples. Sounds like the start of a career year to me.

It's hard to root against Jim Thome. He murdered the Yankees whenever they played, but he is so good natured and seems like such a natural guy that you can't hold it against him. It's hard to blame him for jumping the Indians' ship. They were lukewarm in their desire to sign him. He saw the writing on the wall with the young players and the money drying up on the team. All the superstars he had played with were gone until he was the only one left. Why wouldn't he jump ship to the Phillies where their young players were just coming into their prime...players like Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu. It looks like Thome will benefit from hitting in between those two. Abreu should also benefit in a big way. Burrell needs some protection and some help behind him.

The other quality about Thome is the quiet way he goes about his business and yet the obvious joy he takes in playing. That combination is bound to help any cynical team to a different level. I'll never forget the game winning homerun he hit against the Yankees in one of their playoff matches. He crushed my team, but there was so much joy in his face that I had to laugh and give it to the guy.

Okay. Thome was another of a long line of free agents that got a great contract. Okay, he's rich. But if you think Jim Thome is all about the money, you haven't seen him play. And if you still think that when he plays your team, be prepared to have him hit your best pitcher with the game on the line for a searing, soaring three-run homerun to the deepest part of your stadium's centerfield. And besides...does a man who is only about money leg out two triples in April?