Baseball Beginnings

Posted By John Klima on May 25, 2009

(photo: Baseball Beginnings)

Trayce Thompson has basketball genes but baseball in his blood. His Dad, Mychal, was Mr. 1/1 (First pick, First round) of the 1978 NBA draft and enjoyed a long and productive career. Two of Trayce’s older brothers are Division I college basketball players. And even though Trayce grew up with Clyde Drexler coming over from a few doors down to try to get Mycheal off the couch and go to the gym with him, he still had baseball in his mind when he was out shooting with another friendly visitor, Uncle Chuck Barkley.

Here at Baseball Beginnings, we like guys who have played multiple sports prior to signing. It’s really a sentiment from Old World scouting, where the belief was that no sport requires more fine motor skills than baseball. So if you take a guy who knows how to move his feet and his hands, you got yourself an athlete. It worked for Goose Tatum, a stud member of the old Harlem Globetrotters and a pretty good baseball player in his own right.

Some of the baseball players with other sports in their pasts who we’ve covered leading up to the 2009 draft are Bonita HS shortstop Jiovanni Mier, a soccer player, and Loyola Marymount first baseman Ryan Wheeler, who used to play basketball with North Carolina’s Deon Thompson in high school. Willie Mays played everything in high school, so did Reggie Jackson. Gary Carter was a prep quarterback. John Elway, you know his deal.

In the showcase and specialization age, the multi-sport baseball player is largely a thing of the past, but a player like Thompson shows why different athletic experiences before going into baseball fulltime still has its advantages. That’s the view here, which probably runs contrary to a lot of opinions in the amateur baseball field.

At this time last year, Thompson said he was just trying to get a Division I school to take him, but athleticism helps a player come quickly into baseball. His ride is at UCLA, but signs indicate that the draft will never let him get there. Baseball Beginnings caught up with Thompson and talked about his basketball past and his baseball future.

Baseball Beginnings: When did the light go off and you decided that it was finally time to go fulltime at baseball?
Thompson: I think it was last fall. It was my brother’s last year. I knew (our basketball team was) going to be good and I knew I was going to get significant playing time. I knew we had a good chance of winning state. I knew that if we didn’t do it that I would have to hang it up anyway. It ended up going well, because we won state. It wasn’t that hard of a decision.

Baseball Beginnings: So even though it wasn’t public, while you guys were making your state run against the likes of Minnesota-bound Justin Cobbs, that was it?
Thompson: We got challenged in state, but I knew if we won it, I was done. If we didn’t win it, then it was 50-50. As far as my baseball career went, I knew basketball had to come to an end at some point. I thought I might as well go out on a high note.

Baseball Beginnings: Have you been surprised at how fast baseball has come for you?
Thompson: It’s not a surprise to me because I always knew I could do it. Playing against good competition did it. Playing on the Angels elite team this fall with guys like Tyler Matzek, Matt Hobgood and Chad Thompson, and doing good against those guys, that’s when it really showed to everyone that I could so it. But I always believed in myself and I always knew I could do it. It was a matter of time.

Baseball Beginnings: Was Angels elite a big deal for you developmentally?
Thompson: Yeah. They helped a lot with everything. Playing at Angel Stadium was an honor in itself for a high school kid. The coaches and the scouts we worked with helped a ton. Playing with the best kids around the area stepped everybody’s game up. I miss it.

Baseball Beginnings: Let’s say you go in the first round or the top 100 players in the country. Would you have expected you go that high at this time last year, when you were just walking away from basketball?
Thompson: Last year, I was pretty much only focused on just getting a college to want me instead of pro scouts. It’s an honor to have pro scouts at your game. We had Tommy Lasorda at one of our games. If that doesn’t shock you, I don’t know what does.

Baseball Beginnings: Did he do his schtick?
Thompson: He talked to my Dad during the whole game. I guess they know each other somewhat.

Baseball Beginnings: Was it hard walking away from basketball emotionally, like walking away from an old friend?
Thompson: When the team was in the playoffs, that’s when it felt tough. You see these good teams and the whole entire school goes to the game. You want to be out on the court in those close games. But it’s definitely worth giving it up. I love basketball, but I love baseball even more.

Baseball Beginnings: What basketball traits apply to baseball for you?
Thompson: I always think that you can tell what kind of an athlete someone is by watching them play basketball. Basketball involves speed and jumping ability. Many scouts have told me a good basketball athlete is a phenomenal baseball athlete. It works to your advantage athletically for sure.

Baseball Beginnings: Do you think you have started to tap into that athleticism as a baseball player or are you just becoming aware of what you can do with that athleticism as a baseball player?
Thompson: It shows up on the base paths because of the way you change speeds. You get quick jumps. When you’re playing defense in basketball, it’s all working from a still start. When we played, we played against some of the best and fastest kids around. We played against a guy like (UCLA’s) Jrue Holiday, which alone speaks for itself. He’s going to be a lottery pick.

Baseball Beginnings: Yes, you do play better athletes in basketball than you do in baseball, at least in this era. It wasn’t always that way, but it has been for a while. 
Thompson: The guys we played (in the basketball playoffs) last year were off the scale athletically.

Baseball Beginnings: Describe your Dad’s influence on you and how he has helped you along.
Thompson: He’s been everything I could ever want from a Dad. He supports me in every single way. He tries to come out to every single game even though he has one of the busiest schedules around. He supports me with everything I do. He’s kind of not your typical Orange County dad. Sports wise, he let us choose our own path. You see kids where the Dad wants to live his dream through the kid. My path was baseball. He had a brother who played professional baseball. He respects the game a lot and understood completely.

Baseball Beginnings: Did you see baseball as a way to make your own mark, especially in Southern California, where your Dad is so closely associated with the Lakers?
Thompson: It mattered to me, especially after last year. I have two Division I basketball brothers who made their marks at this school. Everyone thought I was going to be a basketball player. As soon as I gave it up, people asked, ‘Are you not going to play sports anymore, what’s the deal?’ I knew I had to prove something through baseball and I never really did until this year.

Baseball Beginnings: Do you get tired of people saying, ‘Your Dad was this,’ or ‘Your brothers are this’?
Thompson: Oh, no, not at all. You have scouts talk about it. But my Dad is a super-easy going guy. I don’t mind talking about my Dad because there’s so much funny stuff to talk about with my Dad. He’s like the opposite of what you think a basketball Dad is. He never moves around the house. He just sits there. My Dad has his friends he played with and they still try to keep in shape. One of my Dad’s good friends is Charles Barkley and he’s the most out of shape man I have ever seen. We grew up down the street from Clyde Drexler. I think he could still play today because he works out so much. My Dad likes to watch Roger Federer and Tiger Woods and just sit around the house.

Baseball Beginnings: Does Uncle Chuck ever slum around the house?
Thompson: Not too much.

Baseball Beginnings:  Occasionally?
Thompson: Occasionally.

Baseball Beginnings: What to you, right now, is your best tool as a baseball player?
Thompson: I think it’s my athleticism. Everyone talks about power, but I truly feel it’s my athletic ability. I see baseball players around the field and they struggle with certain things. Athletic ability will get you many places. You can turn an athlete into a baseball player. You see some scouts who draft athletes just because it comes easier for them. I just think that my athleticism stands out among the ordinary.

Read Trayce Thompson report
Watch Trayce Thompson video
Watch Trayce Thompson video Part 2
Trayce Thompson Drafted by the Chicago White Sox
Catching up with Trayce Thompson

Categories: '09 Meet the Player
Tags: Chad Thompson, Jiovanni Mier, Matt Hobgood, Mychal Thompson, Ryan Wheeler, Trayce Thompson, Tyler Matzek, UCLA