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Anonymous
As a kid, Thome was a Cubs fanatic. His hero was Dave Kingman. And when Thome was 8, he once jumped onto the field and into the dugout before a game at Wrigley to try to get Kingman's autograph. Cubs catcher Barry Foote grabbed Thome and got him back to his father in the stands.
"Kingman used to have a boat, and we'd come up Lake Shore Drive and Jim would be saying, 'Dad, you think that's the boat? That one?'" Chuck Thome said. That day, Jim was standing along the fence, and Kingman came out and walked 15 feet from Jim. Jim's screaming, waving the ball. Kingman looked like he was going to take a step toward Jim, then thought, "Aw, hell with it," and walked away. Jim came back and said, "I'm still going to get his autograph."
"All of a sudden, he's gone. Foote says, 'Does he really want Kingman's autograph?' I said, 'Oh, yeah.' He said, 'I'll go down there and come back with a ball with his name, but it won't be his signature. He's such a [bleep] that no one talks to him down there."
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