Dodger Stadium has the architectural distinction of being the only major league stadium carved into the side of a canyon, and the only major league stadium where players enter from above the nosebleed seats.
Trace Thompson always believed he could go back there, but never knew for sure. He parks in the player’s parking lot, enters his 8th floor above his home plate, and goes down the stairs. He strolls into the stands with the best views in baseball below him. Then he pauses. Sometimes he prays. Sometimes he just breathes. It’s an emotional way to start your day.
He laughed and wondered what the cleaners were thinking. Those who know his story will understand why he needed that time. He went through his eight organizations and then in six years he recorded 395 major league at-bats. But a tradeback to Los Angeles in July, meant solely to cover an injury, reignited something in the outfield, and after just 50 games, at age 31, he was ninth on the best teams in baseball. He was forced to join the starting line-up most days. He regained his health, received help from Hero, and revived his career. Every day, when Dodger arrived at his stadium, he said thank you.
“I foresaw playing there again, but every day I’m so grateful to be in this locker room in this uniform,” he said.
Those around him, who have known him since he was 25 and have been on the stars track, are noticing.
“I think that’s what draws me to him and what pulls me to root for him, because I don’t think there are enough people in our game and in the world who have a sense of gratitude.” .Trayce is grateful,” says manager Dave Roberts. Roberts tries to believe that he loves all his players equally, but he knows that’s not true. Thompson’s success is something special.
“Given his ups and downs, he had to go back to being a minor, scratching and scratching, overcoming injuries, [now he’s] It’s certainly gratifying to have made an impact on our ballclub,” says Roberts. “And also superimposes the character of this man. No one better.”
Thompson’s winding journey brought him back to the Dodgers, where he forced himself into the starting lineup almost every day.
Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports
It was Thompson’s character that made him so difficult to cut over the years. Thompson grew up surrounded by sports. His father Mychal said he played in the NBA for 13 years and with the Lakers he won two titles. His mother, Julie, played volleyball at the University of Portland and the University of San Francisco. His older brother, Michelle, played for the Cavaliers. His middle brother, Klay, has won his four championships with the Warriors and tends to promote his teammates. The general manager took a flyer for Thompson’s talent, hugged him for his makeup, and finally dumped him in favor of someone else, telling reporters how much he liked him and how it worked. I lamented that I wanted to
In 2016, things looked good in Los Angeles.The White Sox selected Thompson in the second round of the 2009 draft from the Santa Margarita Catholics (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.). From Frazier to the Reds. Thompson made his opening day roster and by the first week of June he had 10 home runs and . 922 OPS. 168 batting average in his next 31 games, as his back began to hurt and he changed mechanics to ease the pain. An MRI showed nothing, but an X-ray found he had two fractured vertebrae.
Thompson missed the rest of the year, spending the offseason in rehab. His play was not. He carried on with many of the bad habits he picked up playing through injury. He recorded his OPS of .483 in his 27 major league games in 2017. Two days later, the A’s claimed him from them, he batted . 20 years spent at the Diamondbacks alternate site.
“Since then I have been perfectly healthy. [the injury]’ he says. “I just got fed up because I didn’t have a better word for it. I had to figure it out and rediscover myself.”
He played enough last year in the Cubs’ Triple-A to earn a September call-up, but he couldn’t perform better than his minor league deal with the Padres this spring. They named him to the assignment, and he signed a minor league contract with the Tigers.He was tearing up his Triple-A affiliate when Dodgers backup outfielder Kevin Piller fractured his left shoulder in early June.
Two weeks later, right fielder Mookie Betts collided with Cody Bellinger and cracked a rib. Suddenly, the depth of the Dodgers’ right-handed outfield pool (he was so envious that he traded AJ Pollock to the White Sox this spring) evaporated. Thompson made an impression in his first stint with the team. LA picked him up considering the cash. Since then, he’s batted .301 with seven homers in 152 at-bats.
“I had so many people reach out to me and say,[You] You can play for the Dodgers, [you] Can’t you play for the Detroit Tigers?” he says. “But in a way it makes sense because the Tigers are probably not going to make it to the playoffs this year. So we’ll have to see what they get for next year. So they need to play with these young players and see what they can do.”
Thompson knows what he can do. He says he’s not surprised by his success in Los Angeles. “Actually, I should be doing better,” he says. “In my opinion, I have struck out too many. .”
He always knew he could do this performance, but he needed some help to get there. Some have changed the career trajectory of
Thompson (right), Mookie Betts (middle) and Cody Bellinger (left) combine in one of MLB’s best outfields.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports
When Thompson signed with the Diamondbacks in 2020, he told director of player development Josh Barfield that his favorite player as a child was Barfield’s Cleveland, like Pacific Northwest product Thompson. He said it was his teammate Grady Sizemore. (Thompson grew up in Portland, Oregon, then moved to Southern California to attend high school. Sizemore is from Everett, Washington.) Sizemore is an All-Star. Thompson was tight-lipped when the injury ended his career after just 10 injuries. season. Barfield “immediately got him on the spot and started the group his text,” Sizemore says with a laugh.
2015, Sizemore’s final year, was Thompson’s first, and although he remembered hearing about this kid at the time, he hadn’t followed his career. They initially kept in touch casually until one day in 2021 when I asked for advice. Together they reviewed the film and Sizemore began to pay more attention so he could provide helpful feedback going forward.
“I just want to be helpful,” says Sizemore. “When we first started talking, he was still in the minor leagues and had a bit of a fight, so I had to leave. I liked, Maybe I’m hurting him more than I’m helping him. so I, Stop texting him, stop calling him. let him I felt really sick. He texted me maybe a month later, clicked and felt good. I was so relieved. I didn’t screw this guy up badly! He always wants to be careful. But I hope you find it helpful. It’s fun. ”
These days, we speak at least twice a month. “I still can’t believe I have his phone number,” Thompson says. Sizemore may seem like the perfect person to advise Thompson to get over his injury, but Thompson never mentioned him. I didn’t know about Thompson’s back fracture until. Sizemore sometimes suggests minor mechanical changes, but more often than not we discuss the approach. Thompson found so much success so early on that he didn’t develop enough of a mentality when things went wrong. He had to learn to trust the process even when the results looked bad, and to be comfortable with failure. “Failure gives us answers about how to get better,” he says.
Sizemore tries to keep his advice simple, as Thompson can feel overwhelmed with information. you are good at this He reminds him of his disciples. That’s how you got here. he sometimes adds. You’re on a team full of All-Stars and they can’t keep you out of the lineupSizemore emphasizes that when a swing goes wrong, it’s usually not a swing. That’s what swings lead to. “Your timing,” he says. “I can see if it’s a bad at-bat or a bad stretch or playing time, but a lot is timing. So I try to work within his swing and help him be in a better position to succeed.” It is said that
After retiring, Sizemore briefly worked as a player development advisor for the Guardians, but was officially out of the game for several years. During that time, he has mostly devoted himself to raising his three young children. I thought he forgot baseball. His relationship with Thompson brought him back to a game he never stopped loving. ,just working on my craft.Now you’re just trying to pass it on to someone else and help him.It tells me.I do things different ways So I’m just trying to teach myself and help someone else at the same time.
He and his wife, model and actress Brittany Binger, watch most Dodgers games on television. If Sizemore misses his one, he records it so he can catch it later. He thinks he might start tracking LA’s next opponent so he can find out how the pitcher will attack Thompson. The Dodgers are fighting for the division title and his first-round bye. Sizemore, who lives in Arizona, may be able to find his way to Los Angeles in October this year. That way, both he and Thompson can see Dodger his stadium and appreciate being there.
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