only "faintly famous" nationally and was not particularly well known outside of Cleveland or his hometown, Peoria. His former teammate Jeromy Burnitz said, "You can't really say he's underrated, because everybody considers him one of the top hitters in the American League, but he's surrounded by so many good players, it's hard to stand out on that team." In August, Thome broke a bone in his right hand and spent several weeks on the disabled list, missing 35 games. He finished the year with 30 home runs and 85 RBI while posting a .293 batting average in 123 games. In Game 3 of the AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees, he hit two home runs off Andy Pettitte en route to a 6–1 Cleveland victory. Cleveland subsequently lost the series to the Yankees in six games. Headed into Cleveland's 1999 season, there were high hopes for the Indians; writers expected Thome to bat in the cleanup spot of the batting order. In May 1999, Thome hit a grand slam against Yankees pitcher Orlando Hernández, which helped Cleveland to a 7–1 victory. In 146 games, his batting average fell to .277, but he increased both his home run and RBI totals to 33 and 108, respectively. In Game 1 of the AL Division Series, Thome hit a game-tying two-run home run off of Derek Lowe that sprung Cleveland's defeat of the Boston Red Sox by a score of 3–2. However, after leading two-games-to-none, Cleveland lost the five-game series. During the 2000 season, Thome hit .269 with 37 home runs and 106 RBI in 158 games. On June 21, he hit his 20th home run of the year against the Chicago White Sox, marking the seventh consecutive season in which he hit 20 or more home runs. On September 29, while in the midst of a tight race for the AL Wild Card spot, Thome led the Indians to an 8–4 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays by hitting a two-run home run. After the game, Thome was quoted as saying, "This team has battled all year, so this was nothing new. Here we are, and we're here tomorrow to play another day." Despite finishing with a record of 90–72, the Indians missed the playoffs. For the 2001 Indians' season, he finished second in the AL with 49 home runs. In addition, Thome had 124 RBI and 111 walks in