When Frank Thomas and former Chicago White Sox manager Jerry Manuel's on-field disagreement boiled over into a dramatic shouting match

The Hall of Famer, Frank Thomas had beef with his former team manager Jerry Manuel. Thomas was compared to legends like Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig and even Babe Ruth. But according to Manuel, the real talent Thomas was still hidden.

Thomas who was part of the Chicago White Sox from debut in 1990 to 2005 was under the charge of Manue, who was the Sox's manager at the time. Manuel was the manager for Sox from 1998 to 2003. The two didn't see eye to eye and often got into fights.

During the late 90s, Thomas was not performing as well as he was in the early 90s. His battling dropped from .347 in 1997 to .265 in 1998. Frank Thomas was also suffering from minor injuries during that time. Along with his tremulous relationship with Sox's manager, it was not panning out well for him.

Many including Manuel pointed out that it was his age that was making him perform less than he was capable. But it turned out that Thomas was suffering from a bone spur (sharp growth) that was growing on his left ankle. The player was missing training and one of those training Thomas missed ended up making Manuel blow his top.

In a 2000 interview with SI, Thomas regaled about what happened during that infamous practice. After feeling discomfort Thomas decided to not practice, which led to Manuel calling him to his office where Frank Thomas got dressed down by the Manager.

"That's a bunch of bulls---, and it had better stop!" Thomas yelled. "I'm not having it."

"This bulls--- is the reason why we are always butting heads!" Manuel said in reply.

Manuel was convinced that Thomas was just putting off training. And Thomas at the same believed that Manuel was just willing to listen to him. The miscommunication between the two really hurt both of them.

When Frank Thomas cleared the air between himself and his teammates

Frank Thomas due to the spur on his ankle was unable to continue to play a game against the Rangers in 1999. This led to many believing that he had run away from the game and left his teammates behind. Manuel and the Sox too were not happy with Thomas.

Thomas decided to take some time for himself as he was facing not only friction from the Sox's management but also from the media. During that time he finally decided to get the surgery to remove the spur from his ankle.

When he returned to the team he cleared the air between him and his teammates and said the following according to SI.

"I didn't quit on you guys," he said. "It was a medical thing. Jerry didn't know how bad it was." Thomas said all those media reports about him being "an individual player"--read, selfish--were not true. "I just want you to know I'm with you," he said. "I'm one of the guys. I'm O.K. I'm not an island. You can b.s. and joke with me. I'm an older guy, but I have a young-guy mentality."

Frank Thomas continued to play with the White Sox until 2005. The White Sox organization even retired his jersey no. 35 in honor of him.