Slugger Frank Thomas chastises baseball’s steroid users

Former major league slugger Frank Thomas, who is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame next year, let it be known that he’s glad he thrived through hard work rather than taking the easier route and using performance-enhancing drugs.

During the Chicago White Sox’s fan fest on Saturday, Thomas said that former stars such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will have to live with the consequences of using banned substances. The repercussion appears to be they’ll never be enshrined in Cooperstown.

“I wouldn’t say I feel bad for them,” Thomas said. “I respected them on the field, but they chose this. They made their own decisions off the field, and they have to live with it.

“These guys did put up some incredible numbers, but they are fake. Any time you look at the PED situation and Lance Armstrong, you look at stuff like that, and it’s serious out there.”

Thomas, a two-time American League most valuable player who finished his career with a .301 batting average and 521 home runs, will appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time next spring along with star pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. He credits his work ethic with making his career possible.

“I just thank God, I’m blessed I did it the right way and have a good family base that made me outwork everyone else, because that’s the only way I made it to the big leagues,” Thomas said. “I was never that blue-chip prospect. I had to do a lot of extra work to get to the big leagues.”

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