“Could it be? Could it be. . .”

On a cool November morning in 2002, the Phillies’ brass was giving a tour of the city. They hoped the allure of a new ballpark— not to mention, the promise of a lucrative contract— would be enough to convince their guest, a hulking mass of a man with bright eyes and a wide smile, to join their ball club.

But no players ever wanted to come to Philadelphia. The Phillies had been non-factors in Major League Baseball for the better part of two decades; the team’s best players, Curt Schilling and Scott Rolen, had forced their ways out of town in preceding seasons; and, the fans had garnered an unsavory reputation, more or less deserved. It seemed a long shot that the Phillies could possibly land such a highly-coveted free agent.

As the entourage passed by the site of the unfinished Citizens Bank Park, the visitor insisted that the executives pull over; a crowd of workers from Electrical Union Local 98 were calling out to him— and they had a gift.

The gift was nothing more than a plain white hat, emblazoned with red letters reading: “Philadelphia wants Jim Thome.” But that hat was enough to convince Jim Thome that he wanted to come to Philadelphia, too.

“It is outta here! Number 400 for Jim Thome. . .”

If someone were to ask me to pinpoint the start of the Phillies most recent run of success, I wouldn’t say it began with the debuts of Chase Utley or Ryan Howard or Cole Hamels. I wouldn’t say that it began with Jimmy Rollins’ declaration that the Phillies were the “team to beat in the NL East.” Instead, I’d tell them that the golden era of Phillies baseball began with that white hat.

Jim Thome only spent parts of four seasons in red pinstripes, but he forever changed the course of the franchise.

His stats were tremendous: he hit 101 of his career 612 home runs— good for seventh all time— in a Phillies uniform; his 13.3 At-Bat to Home Run ratio is tops in Phillies history; and, in 1629 plate appearances for the organization, he produced a triple slash line of .260/.384/.541 with a 139 OPS+. Despite only playing two of his peak seasons in Philadelphia, Thome was a monster during his stints here.

His signing represented a change in the culture of Philadelphia baseball; the Phillies had always been low-spenders in a large market. Thome’s deal for 6 years and $85 million— to that point, the largest in franchise history— was the biggest splash the Phillies had made since signing Pete Rose prior to the 1979 season. Signalling to the baseball world that the Phillies were serious about contending, the deal renewed interest in a team that Philadelphians had largely abandoned following the 1994 strike. His close relationship with Charlie Manuel brought the beloved skipper to Philadelphia, and his presence in the clubhouse played a key role in the development of young players like Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, who would form the core of the 2008 World Champions.

Thome was never flashy or obnoxious; he was never charged with accusations of PED usage; he always made the time to sign autographs for kids, and was gracious with the media; he was the consummate professional, humble and kind. He wasn’t fast, but he would hustle. He loved the fans, and they loved him. For kids like me growing up in the Delaware Valley, he was the greatest role model we could have asked for. He was— and still is— an active philanthropist, and was consistently voted by his peers one of the best teammates in baseball. He was one of the greatest players the game had ever seen— but more importantly, he was one of the greatest men to have ever taken the field.

I idolized Jim Thome growing up. My first memory of a baseball game is watching him at-bat; he’s the reason I played first base, the reason I always requested number 25. My little league self would replicate his swing, hands high and feet open, my bat sweeping down in a ferocious uppercut— albeit to far less success. When Thome was traded in November 2005, I bawled my eyes out. And when the Phillies brought him back six years later, I might’ve teared up a bit, too.

There’s no doubt in my mind Jim Thome will be enshrined in Cooperstown shortly after he becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2018. But for now, he’ll have to settle for another bronze plaque, which will be revealed when he is inducted as the 38th member of the Phillies Wall of Fame Friday night. And I’ll be there with 45,000 other fans, celebrating the legacy of my boyhood hero, one of the all-time greats and, perhaps, the most universally beloved player to ever don red pinstripes.

“. . . And take a bow big man!”