White Sox retire Frank Thomas’ #35 during pre-game ceremony..

Prior to Sunday afternoon’s home game against the New York Yankees at U.S. Cellular Field, the Chicago White Sox officially retired Frank Thomas’ #35 jersey in a special pre-game ceremony.

It included a video tribute, as Thomas was later presented with a painting & framed jersey by the team, as his new image was then displayed in the outfield wall at left center.

The Big Hurt had no problems displaying his emotions on this special day, as he quoted:

“It brought back a lot of memories, thinking about teammates and all the great times and bad times. It just got to me. Emotion caught up. I’m a very, very proud man today, and this was probably was the proudest day of my life. It’s going to be some ups and downs if you play anywhere as long as I played. It happens to all the big players. Sixteen years in one city and played at a high level for such a long time, you’re going to have your ups and downs. I’m sorry, people want to knock you down sometimes. I’m used to that. I had broad shoulders; I had to get broader shoulders. There were some days that I wanted to just go in my locker and cry with all that stuff. But I kept finding a way to get it done. I’m proud of what I accomplished over 16 years here and thank all of Chicago.”

Thomas is the White Sox’s franchise leader in home runs (448) and runs batted in (1,465) as he now serves as a team ambassador.