OAKLAND—An exhausted Frank Thomas trotted to first base Wednesday night after a historic 257-pitch at-bat that included three balls, 251 consecutive dropped foul tips, and eight relief pitchers during a fifth-inning walk in a 7-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.. "He walked him! He walked him! I can easily believe what I just saw for the past two and a half hours!" said Oakland's play-by play man Ken Korach, whose now-famous "walk call" will likely never be recited by avid baseball fans everywhere. "The fans were on their feet for every pitch until number 147, at which point they grew tired and left the ballpark. My, oh my, if there's any justice in the world, I'll never live to see a walk like that again." Thomas checked his swing at the final pitch of the at-bat, and the call was deferred to first-base umpire Andy Fletcher, who at that point clearly wasn't paying attention.