Forget everything you’ve read about leadoff hitters being scrappy little guys who act as table-setters for the big thumpers further down in the lineup.
Kevin Thompson doesn’t set the table for the Staten Island Yankees. He clears it.
Thompson is the Baby Bombers’ leadoff hitter, although you’d never know it by looking at his stats. Heading into last night’s action against the New Jersey Cardinals, Thompson was the club’s top man in a curious category – slugging percentage. In the statistic that measures total bases in relation to at-bats, the S.I. centerfielder has produced a lofty .603 mark.
Now you really want to be impressed? Thompson doesn’t just lead the first-place Yankees in slugging. He leads the entire New York-Penn League.
“I didn’t know that!” Thompson said, laughing. “That’s pretty cool.”
That isn’t to say that Thompson is one of those Rob Deer types, who swings for the fences every time up, connects every so often and does little else. The 5-10, 185-pounder is tops on the team in batting average (.345, good for sixth in the league), hits (20), runs (14, fourth in the league) and home runs (four).
I’ll take team MVP for $100, Alex.
“I’m just trying to get on base,” Thompson said. “Then steal some bases and get into scoring position so that [leftfielder John-Ford] Griffin and [DH Shelley] Duncan can drive me in.”
Thompson’s offensive contributions are as varied as they are impressive. One night he singles twice, gets hit by a pitch and scores three runs. Another night, he gets a jump on the July 4 fireworks by jolting the game-winning home run in the 10th inning.
What makes Thompson’s success all the more startling is his track to St. George. Growing up in pigskin-crazy Fort Worth, Texas, he was primarily a football player, only first dabbling in hardball at the age of 10. By the end of his high school days, however, he was good enough to be drafted in the 18th round by the Twins.
Thompson bypassed Minnesota’s offer to join their farm system, though, opting instead to enroll at Grayson Junior College. He spent the next two seasons there before being plucked by the Yankees in the 31st round of the 1999 Draft. A year later, Thompson signed with the Bombers and was assigned to Tampa of the Gulf Coast League, where he smacked 10 extra-base hits in 20 games.
And now he’s ripping up the pitching on the next level.
“Every game I just try to do my best,” said the 21-year-old, “and show the Yanks what I can do.”