Comments on: Marcus Thames retires, becomes Yankees minor league hitting coach

By: badintent

badintent — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 05:51:52 +0000

Sweet, great post ! I have to put that at bat after Bucky’s Bash !

By: djpostl

djpostl — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 23:52:42 +0000

Lol Papelbum got rocked that game.

Double by Gardner, deep ass flyout by Tex, monster HR by Arod, deep ass flyout by Cano, HBP then monster HR for walk-off.

By: giantssb42champs

giantssb42champs — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 22:58:27 +0000

Thames hit a HR in his first MLB at bat – off Randy Johnson at the Stadium. Just a little trivia.

By: number42is1

number42is1 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:43:53 +0000

best Yanks vs Sox game i had ever been to IN MY LIFE. first it was Arod in the 9th and then Thames…

By: number42is1

number42is1 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:27:04 +0000

Bravo – Jim Levenstein disagrees with you

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:20:20 +0000

Tied game bottom of the ninth walk-off.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA201005170.shtml

By: deathmonkey41

deathmonkey41 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:44:06 +0000

He hit a pretty big HR off of Papelbon too- although I don’t remember the situation.

By: bigleagues

bigleagues — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:37:25 +0000

Craig:

You didn’t do all your homework!

The man who CRUSHED the first MLB baseball pitch he ever saw for his 1st career Home Run – and off of reigning Cy Young Randy Johnson, no less …

:30 mark of this video:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7165773

…Marcus Thames belongs in the Son Hall of Fame.

He joined the National Guard at Age 17 in order to help support his paralyzed Mom.

The National Guard gave him the strength and confidence to play High School baseball his Senior year – his only year on varsity. He played one year of community college, then one year at Texas State when the Yankees drafted him in the 30th round of the ’96 draft.

He wasn’t considered a prospect until his dominant 2001 season at AA Norwich.

                                                                                  
Year   Age      Tm   G  PA   R   H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB  SO   BA  OBP  SLG   OPS  TB
2001    24 Norwich 139 603 114 167 43  4 31  97 10 73 101 .321 .410 .598 1.008 311

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original TableGenerated 1/11/2013.

Marcus and I were friends when he was in Norwich. One day when we were sharing stories about our lives, he was talking about how he was determined to take care of his Mom. I watched as this 6′ 2″, 220 lb man have tears well-up in his eyes – and not a shred of shame.

Marcus is one of the most down to earth, humble, nicest guys I’ll ever meet.

Many people believe that his nickname, Country Strong, described his raw physical power . . . but it just as accurately described his ability to persevere through adversity.

In baseball terms, Marcus Thames was never a superstar . . . but I’ll always think of him as one.

By: blacksables

blacksables — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:10:06 +0000

By: El Bravo

El Bravo — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:09:25 +0000

Shit, I think I’m even significantly better than Felix Pie. I can’t hold a candle to the Pecan variety though. I won’t even f@ck with apple. Apple Pie don’t play.

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:00:57 +0000

Significantly better than Felix Pie.
Not nearly as good as Pecan Pie.

By: number42is1

number42is1 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:52:18 +0000

I was so close.. 2 run HR not a Grand Slam

By: weaselpuppy

weaselpuppy — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:48:41 +0000

Country Strong!

By: El Bravo

El Bravo — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:33:12 +0000

Pie

By: mattyflex

mattyflex — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:31:56 +0000

Hey, guy, that shits not funny. The HOF is serious business. At least, to someone, somewhere.

By: hojo20

hojo20 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:30:09 +0000

I hope Thames wears a Tigers hat on his HOF plaque.

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:29:22 +0000

Ask and ye shall receive:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7165773

By: Detroit Michael

Detroit Michael — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:22:48 +0000

I enjoyed Thames during his Tiger years. He seemed like a nice guy. I never perceieved his fielding to be as bad as Jim Leyland seemed to think it was.

Cherry-picking a statistic to accentuate Marcus Thames strong suit, during 2002-11, minimum 2000 plate appearances, Marcus was 25th in the majors in isolated power (SLG minus BA). Of course, Thames enjoyed the platoon advantage more than a full-timer would have, but that’s still a nice accomplishment for a lefty-masher. Thames is right below Andruw Jones, right above Miguel Cabrera and that leaderboard.

By: number42is1

number42is1 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:17:36 +0000

Think it may have even been a Grand Slam… yea sure i could google it.. but where is the fun in that?

By: mattyflex

mattyflex — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:16:31 +0000

Sounds like a question for the Schwab.

By: number42is1

number42is1 — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:13:48 +0000

if i am not mistaken didnt he hit his first big league HR on his first big league at bat off Randy Johnson in 2002 on the first game between the Yanks and Dbacks following the 2001 WS?

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:08:55 +0000

I liked Thames as a hitter who was never going to be a star. He showed a lot of perseverance in his career. 2006 was a great season for him in Detroit.