Last week, Jim Thome joined the elite ranks of first-ballot Hall of Famers, receiving nearly 90 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
But 12 years earlier, his eventual spot in Cooperstown was far from secure. Thome, with 430 career home runs to that point, was coming off an ineffective, injury-plagued season at age 34 -- a point at which it's hardly unusual for players to decline rapidly. With the emergence of Ryan Howard at first base, the Phillies shipped Thome to the White Sox, and his future looked uncertain.