Jim Thome became one of the best sluggers of his era.  After beginning his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1991, Thome went on to spend the next 20 years blasting balls over the fences for six teams: the Indians, Phillies, White Sox, Dodgers, Twins and Orioles.  Thome’s success placed the first baseman in some of baseball’s most elite home run clubs.

On this day, September 16th, in 2007, Jim Thome hit his 500th career home run.  While there is never a boring 500th home run, Thome’s was done in a particularly memorable fashion with a walk-off homer against Los Angles Angels pitcher Dustin Mosely.  The shot brought in the two winning runs for the Chicago White Sox, but it was also the first-ever walk-off 500th home run.

He retired after the 2012 season with 612 career home runs, eighth on the all-time list.