Frank Thomas, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, made an unexpected announcement on X on Friday afternoon: he is still alive.
Following a morning segment of Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus” show that featured remembrances of celebrities who passed away in 2023, the post was published at 12:30 p.m. ET. The former slugger was one of those, according to the episode. A video of Big Hurt hitting a home run and a clip of his induction into the Hall of Fame were shown throughout the broadcast. The text “Frank Thomas 1968-2023” was displayed in the upper-right corner of the image.
Julie Banderas of Fox News apologized as the program was coming to an end.
In addition, Banderas stated, “We must promptly make a correction in the ‘In Memoriam’ feature that we just displayed a short while ago.” “We misidentified the late Frank Thomas, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ three-time All-Star. Regretfully, the Frank Thomas we presented to you was once a professional baseball player as well. He is very much in the here and now. We regret that error.
Frank Thomas, a 55-year-old who spent 19 seasons in the major leagues (1990–2008), won two MVP awards, and hit 521 home runs in his career, didn’t appear to be satisfied by that.
“Ladies and Gentlemen I’m very sorry my ex employer Fox would be this irresponsible on National TV this morning,” the former designated hitter and first baseman wrote on X. “Yes I’m alive and doing well. This blows my mind also.”
From 2014 to 23 Thomas worked for Fox Sports; this season, Yankees great Derek Jeter took Thomas’ place.
The multi-position player Frank Thomas Fox News intended to honor was one who played for seven teams between 1951 and 1966 and hit 286 home runs in his career.