Hall-bound: Phillies to pay tribute to Thome

This year will be one of celebration for Jim Thome, and the Phillies announced Tuesday that they will honor the soon-to-be Hall of Famer in the run-up to his Induction Day in Cooperstown.
The Phillies will pay tribute to Thome, a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2018, on Thursday, June 14, in a pregame ceremony before the team's 1:05 p.m. ET matchup against the Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. Though he spent parts of just four seasons in Philadelphia, Thome's impact was profound. The slugger clubbed 101 home runs and drove in 218 runs while wearing a Phillies uniform from 2003-05 and again in '12, and Thome also won one of his two Marvin Miller Man of the Year Awards during his Phillies tenure.
The club inducted Thome onto its Wall of Fame in 2016.
"Jim's signing ushered in a new era of Phillies baseball," said executive vice president David Buck in an official team statement released Tuesday. "He had an immediate connection with our fanbase and gave our franchise a renewed level of respectability. Jim's election to the Hall of Fame was always a matter of 'when' not 'if,' and we are excited to be able to honor him for that historic achievement."
Thome's ceremony with the Phillies is set to take place on the 14th anniversary of his 400th career home run, which he hit against the Reds on June 14, 2004, at Citizens Bank Park. Thome's daughter, Lila, will perform the national anthem as part of the pregame festivities.

Thome was one of four players that the Baseball Writers' Association of America elected to the Hall of Fame in January, alongside Trevor Hoffman, Vladimir Guerrero and Chipper Jones. The quartet will join Modern Era Committee selections Jack Morris and Alan Trammell for the 2018 Induction Ceremony on Sunday, July 29, in Cooperstown, N.Y.