Frank Thomas blasts ‘irresponsible’ Fox News after network mistakenly reports his death

Former Phillies outfielder Frank Thomas died in January at age 93. He spent part of the 1964 and 1965 seasons with the Phillies and famously got into a fight with Dick Allen which led to his release. He was a three-time All-Star during eight seasons with the Pirates and also held a number of early franchise records with the original expansion Mets.

But when putting together their “In Memoriam” sequence for 2023, Fox News included the wrong Frank Thomas.

Instead of the former Phillie, The Faulkner Focus mistakenly included White Sox legend Frank Thomas, who played for the team from 1990-2005 and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Thomas took to social media to correct the error and criticize the network. Thomas worked for Fox Sports from 2014-2023 before he was replaced by Derek Jeter. He now works for Apple TV as a broadcaster.

“Ladies and Gentlemen I’m very sorry my ex employer Fox would be this irresponsible on National TV this morning,” Thomas wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Yes I’m alive and doing well. This blows my mind also.”

The Faulkner Focus later corrected the error on air.

“We need to issue a correction,” host Julie Banderas said. “...We misidentified the late Frank Thomas, the three-time All-Star for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Frank Thomas we showed you unfortunately was also a former pro baseball player. He is very much alive.”

During his 16-year career from 1951-1966, the late Thomas hit .266 with 286 home runs, 962 RBIs and 792 runs scored over 1,766 games. He made his last public appearance at Mets Old Timer’s Day in August 2022.