Revenge of the Thames

One of the best parts about baseball is having stories come along every once in a while that are so quirky, so impossible-sounding, yet so inspiring, that you can't help but put your ear to the box and listen in. And Eric Thames' impossible comeback in Milwaukee is CERTAINLY one of those times.

This is the kind of shit that sportswriters pray for by their bed stands every night. Eric Thames was a strikeout machine back in Toronto, so he bopped around the majors for a year or so, left for KOREA, where most MLB careers just sort of lead to, albeit ten years after where Thames was...and he becomes this home run monster in Korea. I don't know what it was, but I imagine he worked on his mechanics, and figured out how to stop good Korean pitching...and this principle probably also applied to good MLB pitching.

Right now, Eric Thames has eight major league home runs. Let's put this into perspective with some dumb statistics.

In 2012, Eric Thames hit nine home runs over the course of 86 games of bopping between Toronto and Seattle. If Thames hits another homer today he ties that mark in 18 games.

In 2012, Eric Thames hit twelve home runs over the course of 95 games in his rookie year in Toronto. Right now, Eric Thames has hit 2/3rds of his seasonal home run record.

So, let's do some mathematic reasoning here. Eric Thames never hit more than twelve home runs in a season during his entire MLB career. Eric Thames currently has 8 home runs in 2017. If he plays his cards right, Eric Thames will have been more powerful ballplayer in ONE MONTH of MLB play than he had been during an entire YEAR of MLB play before his move to Korea.

Or, to put it simply- Right now, Eric Thames is better than he's ever been in the United States. Now, whether he bests his Korean Career Best of 47 Home Runs is another thing entirely, but barring catastrophe, he's gonna fly past his MLB career best, as well as probably hit more than 22 home runs this year, meaning he'll have hit more homers in 2017 than he did in his entire pre-Korea MLB career.

I'm sorry, but you can't help but root for the guy. Stats or no stats.

Coming Tonight: I'm gonna try to fit in the second half of the DK break, but I'll try to program a custom for tonight. If so, it'll be one of the few reasons left to go to an Angels game (besides Mike Trout of course.)