Frank Thomas Homers in First Game as Athletic

All the A's Frank Thomas had to do to win approval to play was sprint from home to first base in spikes without undue discomfort to his surgically repaired ankle, which he did. And in his first start in an A's uniform during interleague play in Arizona Sunday, he bashed a 450-foot moonshot to break up Colorado's Josh Fogg's no hitter in the bottom of the fifth. Thomas, 37, likely will be productive when he plays, as he was briefly last year, batting only .212 but hitting 12 homers in 101 AB. The problem is, the Athletics do not envision the 275-pound, 6 foot five slugger appearing in many more than 300 games. Thomas signed for a mere $700,000.