Rich Thompson had been to the Major Leagues, a feat which countless baseball players can only dream about.
For almost a decade, the Montrose graduate has been one of the most consistent performers on the highest level of minor-league baseball.
When Thompson stepped to the plate for the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday night, however, he did so as the underdog for which seemingly all but the most diehard Boston Red Sox fans were cheering.
Thompson slapped a routine ground-ball single up the middle to drive in a run and remove himself from the relatively short list of players who had batted in the Major Leagues without getting a hit.
For more than eight years, before Wednesday's trade from the Philadelphia Phillies organization to Tampa Bay, Thompson had stood as the only player in Major League history to ground into a double play in his only at-bat.
Thompson came off the bench Wednesday night and - as a threat to steal - induced a balk.
The 33-year-old’s first Major League start, as the left fielder and ninth hitter for the Rays, got off to another tough start offensively Thursday with a strikeout.
By now, the story of Thompson’s perseverance through eight-plus years and 915 minor-league games for a second chance was spreading fast.
When Thompson singled to drive in Sean Rodriguez from second in what would ultimately be a 5-3 loss, the Tampa fans responded with a standing ovation. Teammate B.J. Upton retrieved the ball and tossed it into the dugout so that it could be presented to Thompson in a glass case after the game.
“It was great - you never know how long it’s going to be or if it it’ll ever come,” Thompson said of his first hit, according to foxsportsflorida.com, “so it’s really nice to get it out of the way in your first start.”
Thompson had been driving to an elementary school visit in Allentown when he received a phone call from Lehigh Valley IronPigs manager Ryne Sandberg about the trade for minor-league outfielder Kyle Hudson and Thompson’s need to report immediately to Tampa.
Back in Allentown, his former teammates on the IronPigs stopped to watch on the big screen at Coca-Cola Park when video of Thompson’s first hit and an mlb.com interview were displayed.
No player has had a greater impact on the IronPigs franchise than Thompson, who was born in Reading before growing up in Susquehanna County on the way to a standout career at James Madison University.
Thompson left Lehigh Valley as the franchise’s all-time leader in games, at bats, hits, doubles, triples, runs and stolen bases.
In all, Thompson has stolen 442 bases in 1,388 career minor-league games while hitting .280 and scoring 836 runs.
But lofty career numbers in the minor leagues can be seen as both signs of achievement and disappointment.
Not many players get held up as long so close to the majors without being called up at times to fill in.
Before leaving Allentown, Thompson was the fifth-oldest player in minor-league baseball.
Most importantly, however, he was playing as if age was not a factor.
At 32 years old last season, he led the International League in stolen bases with 48, showing that he still both possessed speed and the understanding of how to use it.
So, what did Thompson do after getting his first Major League hit? He proceeded to steal second and third base.
These were not milestones for Thompson.
During six games as a substitute with the Kansas City Royals in the first month of the 2004 season, Thompson was used primarily as a pinch runner. Lost in the disappointment of that ninth-inning double play he grounded into was that Thompson used his speed during that time, stealing a base and racing home with the game-winning run on a close play at the plate
“I always felt I was good enough to get back to the big leagues and now I’m here,” Thompson said, according to foxsportsflorida.com.
There were many facets to making Thompson Major League Baseball’s feel-good story of the week.
As a Pittsburgh Pirates minor league in 2003, Thompson had made his home in Tampa, the site of Pittsburgh’s spring training home.
Thompson, a father of three, got his first Major League hit and RBI with wife Theresa and 7-year-old son Clay in attendance.
“It’s kind of surreal that we’ve been at this all this time and it happened at home,” said Thompson, who was up before 6 the next morning to help get his kids ready for school, in the mlb.com interview.
Thompson, who passed his exam to become a certified public accountant during the offseason, finished his first week with the Rays 1-for-7 in three games.
Manager Joe Maddon, a Hazleton native, had Thompson in the starting lineup two days in a row while trying to keep the Rays near the top of the standings. Despite having nine players on the disabled list, Tampa Bay went into Sunday tied for the third-best record in all of Major League Baseball.
Thompson will be missed in Allentown where he spent most of the last five seasons, but the teammates and fans he left behind were among those celebrating his long-awaited and well-deserved return to the game’s highest level.
WEEK IN REVIEW
SCRANTON - Montrose used 1-2 finishes in both the pole vault and javelin to finish in sixth place in the team standings at the District 2 Class AA Track and Field Championships Thursday at Memorial Stadium.
The top two finishers in each event qualified for Friday and Saturday’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Championships.
Brandon Russell won the pole vault for the Meteors by clearing 13-6. Jeremy Dibble cleared 13-0 for second place in an event where the top four finishers were all from Susquehanna County. Jeremy Schwartztrauber from Elk Lake was third and Zach Edwards from Blue Ridge was fourth.
John Lawson and Kurt Kimsey finished first and second in the javelin. Lawson had a throw of 178-10 and Kimsey 162-1.
Blue Ridge’s Sean Stanley was the county’s other district boys’ champion.
Stanley won the triple jump at 42-5 1⁄2.
Two Elk Lake athletes – Luke Jones (3200) and Jason Vermeulen (long jump) – advanced to the state meet with second-place finishes.
Holy Redeemer outscored Holy Cross, 99-80 1⁄2, to repeat as team champion.
Montrose was sixth with 50 points, Blue Ridge 10th with 33, Elk Lake 11th with 29 and Mountain View 17th of the 19 teams that scored with 5 points.
Dibble added a sixth-place finish in the 110 hurdles.
Montrose also got points from Tom Lewis (400) and Tim McNamara (800) finishing fourth and Jacob Blom (long jump) placing sixth.
Stanley added a fourth-place in the long jump for Blue Ridge, which finished third in the 3200 relay and sixth in the 400 relay.
Gage Piechocki was sixth in the discus and Sean Stanley was eighth in the long jump for the Raiders.
Matt Woolcock was fifth in the high jump and sixth in the triple jump for Elk Lake.
Mountain View’s Brett Crowley was sixth in the 800 and Liam Maloney was seventh in the triple jump.
Susquehanna did not score a point. The best finishes for the Sabers were 10th by Troy Maby in the 110 high hurdles and 11th by Cooper Quick in the 300 hurdles.
The Montrose 1600 relay team won the county’s only gold medal.
Allison Lewis, Meghan Gilhool, Myra Lattimore and Samantha Bennici finished in 4:07.78.
Elk Lake and Montrose each advanced two individuals and a relay team to the state meet.
Elizabeth Trowbridge was second in the 1600 and joined Maria Trowbridge, Kirsten Hollister and Jenny VanEtten to form the second-place 3200 relay.
Megan Bush was second in the shot put for the Lady Warriors.
Allison Lewis (400) and Madelyn Pasteka (high jump) were second for Montrose.
Holy Redeemer won the team title with 141 points while Lakeland was second with 95.
Montrose was sixth with 59 1⁄2, Elk Lake was seventh with 48, Susquehanna was 13th with 12 and Mountain View was 14th with 4.
Bennici (800) and Rebecca Timm (300 hurdles) were third for Montrose.
The Lady Meteors also got fifth-place finishes from their 400 and 3200 relay teams as well as sprinters Lattimore (100) and Pasteka (200). Pasteka (long jump) and Timm (pole vault) added sixth-place finishes.
Elk Lake received fourth-place efforts from Hollister (400), Maria Trowbridge (800), Lainey Bedell (1600) and Kenzie Jones (3200). Taylor Watkins was fifth in the javelin.
Susquehanna’s Sarah Serfilippi was third in the discus.
Teammates Ivy Christenson (800) and Melissa Kukowski (100 hurdles) were sixth.
Mountain View’s Kelly Purdy was fifth in the 1600.
Blue Ridge did not score, but came within one place of doing so in three events. Kasey Purdum in the 1600, Dakota Radakovitch in the discus and the 400 relay were ninth.
In boys’ tennis, the Montrose team of Chris Jordan-Isaac Mitchell pulled off the only upset of the first two rounds of the District 2 Class AA doubles tournament.
Jordan-Mitchell defeated seventh-seeded Matt James-Branden Ott of Wilkes-Barre Meyers, 6-2, 7-5, in the first round and won another match before losing to the eventual champions in the quarterfinals.
Jordan-Mitchell downed Ryan McCarthy-Blake Donovan of Dallas, 6-3, 2-6, 7-3 (7-3), then lost to Will Cognetti-Walker Temperton of Scranton Prep, 6-1, 6-2.
The other Montrose entry, Michael Roman-Bryan Shultz, split a pair of three-set matches.
Roman-Shultz beat Francois Ross-Tyer Duck of Dallas, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0, then lost to Rob Azzarelli-Tim Thomas of Holy Cross, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
In baseball, Montrose completed an unbeaten champion season in Lackawanna League Division 3.
Final standings: Montrose 14-0, Lackawanna Trail 11-3, Mountain View 8-6, Blue Ridge 6-8, Elk Lake 6-8, Western Wayne 4-10, Susquehanna 4-10, Forest City 3-11.
In softball, Montrose completed a championship season in Lackawanna League Division 3.
Final standings: Montrose 13-1, Lackawanna Trail 11-3, Elk Lake 9-5, Mountain View 6-8, Blue Ridge 6-8, Western Wayne 5-9, Susquehanna 4-10, Forest City 2-12.
In boys’ volleyball, Lackawanna Trail swept three games from Western Wayne in a playoff match at Mountain View to decide the Lackawanna League title.
Final standings: Lackawanna Trail 13-1, Western Wayne 13-1, Abington Heights 10-4, Mountain View 8-6, Forest City 5-9, Blue Ridge 3-11, Elk Lake 2-12, Susquehanna 2-12.
DREAM GAME
Rosters have been announced for the Dream Game August 1 at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
Three players each from Susquehanna and Montrose have been named to the roster for the City team, which will be coached by Delaware Valley’s Keith Olsommer.
Susquehanna wide receiver/cornerback Austin Cowperthwait has been selected along with running back/linebacker Jesse Pruitt and guard/defensive tackle Gage Piechocki, Blue Ridge students who played for the Sabers as part of the cooperative sponsorship between the schools.
Montrose will be represented by two-way tackle Jordan Christofaro, wide receiver/defensive back Jeremy Dibble and guard/defensive end Chris Spoehr.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Montrose has a first-round bye in the District 2 Class AA softball tournament and will open play in the quarterfinals Wednesday against the winner of Monday’s Meyers at Elk Lake game. Meyers is 5-7 and seeded 10th out of 14 teams. Elk Lake is seeded seventh.
The Class A tournament opens Thursday with county teams involved in all three quarterfinals of the seven-team event. Fifth-seeded Susquehanna is at fourth-seeded Old Forge (5-9), sixth-seeded MMI Prep (3-9) is at third-seeded Mountain View and seventh-seeded Forest City is at second-seeded Blue Ridge.
In baseball, the District 2 Class AA tournament was scheduled to open Tuesday.
The winners of the Dunmore at Mountain View and GAR at Montrose games meet in Thursday’s quarterfinals of the 15-team tournament. Dunmore (6-8) is seeded 10th. Mountain View is seeded seventh. Winless GAR is 15th. Montrose is the second seed.
Elk Lake, the 11th seed, was scheduled to open at sixth-seeded Holy Cross (8-6) Tuesday. The winner will play the Lake-Lehman/Carbondale winner Thursday. Lake-Lehman (8-4) is seeded third. Carbondale (2-12) is 14th.
Third-seeded Blue Ridge (6-8) is at second-seeded Old Forge (10-4) Friday in the semifinals of the five-team Class A tournament.
In track, the state championships are Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University.
Qualifying for the track events is Friday with finals on Saturday.
Stanley, Lawson and Kimsey will compete in their field events Friday morning, starting at 9 a.m. Russell, Dibble and Pasteka are scheduled for Friday at 12:30 p.m.
Bush is scheduled for the last field events session Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Jones and Lawson appear to be the county’s top threats.
Jones is seeded third in the 3200 and Lawson is seventh in the javelin.
The top eight in each event earn medals.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
