"My personal account is not a vehicle for booking my husband" - Jim Thome's wife Andrea slams 'grown men' who bullied her for HOFer's radio appearance

Jim Thome doesn't use social media, a revelation that ended up becoming a challenge for ESPN Cleveland. They issued a challenge to an intern, Nick, to get the Hall of Famer on "The Really Big Show," with a $100 prize reward if he was successful.

With Jim Thome not on social media, Nick reportedly went via two different routes of communication, Thome's wife Andrea and their son, who is in high school. While this was meant to be in good nature and fun, Andrea felt differently and found the pressure being applied to be more akin to bullying than anything else. She took to X in a series of Tweets:

"I am all about kindness and connection, but this is my personal account—not a vehicle for booking my husband on talk radio shows. Please don’t berate me for that, and please don’t tag our children in those endeavors, either. He has an agent for a reason."

"I did not have grown men on @ESPNCleveland bullying me on International Women’s Day because I won’t interrupt my husband while he is working across the country to call in so your intern can win $100. How about I Venmo the kid and you guys back off?"

"I called in the other day for the first time ever to offer clues when Jim couldn’t because he was working one of his three job. Now, I’m bound to engage with every copycat that tries these stunts to get him on talk shows? Come on. I guess it’s a good day to thin the herd."

While this doubtless started with good intentions, it does go to show the importance of using the right lines of communication. Respecting the word no is important, and it's easy to cross the line.

When Jim Thome discussed moving from Cleveland to the Phillies as a free agent

Just because ESPN Cleveland wasn't successful in booking Jim Thome doesn't mean it can't be done. In November last year, Thome spoke to MLB Network's "High Heat" about his time as a pro.

In particular, he was asked about his memories of when he left Cleveland for the Philadelphia Phillies as the "biggest name in the free agency market at the time":

"Looking back, it's a whirlwind. I think you have to stay grounded during the process. When I went to Philadelphia and I remember the process of them opening the new ballpark and the vision that the Phillies had, and then just the people there.

"You know, the union workers, got to meet them and for me, it felt like I could relate much similar to when I was in Cleveland. And all the great people I met in Philadelphia, even to this day, you look back and that process, you make friends, after baseball, it's bigger than baseball and at the end of the day."

Jim Thome was enshrined in Cooperstown in 2018 after retiring with 2,328 hits, 612 home runs and a .276 batting average.