From hot rods to ballpark hotdogs
C’s Thomas grew up travelling U.S. with drag-racer dad
By various accounts, Vancouver Canadians second baseman Lane Thomas is a multi-dimensional, athletic guy. His dad was pure speed demon. Mike Thomas was a drag racer, including a lengthy stint in the Pro Stock class in the prestigious National Hot Rod Association circuit. His career highlights included winning the 1998 NHRA Fram Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill.
“I got to travel a lot when I was was growing up,” said Lane, 19, a 2014 fifthround pick of the C’s parent club, the Toronto Blue Jays, out of Bearden, a Knoxville, Tenn., high school. “I’ve been to pretty much every state.
“He loves this. He loves baseball. It makes him miss racing. He loves the fans. He used to have way more fans than we get. Some of those things, you’d have 200,000 people at in a weekend. He’s taught me the ropes in that way.
“I still played baseball growing up. We would meet him on the road. When I was younger, I would really travel with him. I didn’t really start playing baseball until I was eight or nine.”
You could say Lane Thomas has put his pedal to the metal, so to speak, to catch up ever since. He was pegged as the Blue Jays’ No. 22 prospect in spring training by mlb.com. That’s the highest ranking for any member of the Vancouver crew outside of left-hander Ryan Borucki, 21, the website’s No. 12 selection who was with the C’s for part of last season and is on the disabled list with arm trouble.
Thomas hit .281, with one home run and 19 RBIs between two Rookie League levels last season totalling 52 games. He was drafted as an outfielder, spent time between the outfield and third base last season, and over the winter, the Blue Jays moved him to second base.
C’s manager John Schneider says that is where he will stay this season.
The Toronto brain trust is obviously intrigued by his athleticism. They think he can do enough defensively to stick there while also bringing offensive numbers you would normally get from an outfielder or a corner infielder.
Schneider compared him to Aaron Hill at this stage of his development. Hill, of course, is now in his 11th season in the big leagues.
“You forget how young he is, but the ball jumps off his bat,” Schneider said of Thomas, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound righthanded hitter. “In our ballpark now, you could see a lot of doubles and triples from him.
“He’s going to have ups and downs, like all of them. I think he’ll have way more ups than downs because he’s an athlete who can adjust.”
Thomas’ dad, who lives in Knoxville, is now a real estate developer. He restores cars on the side from time to time. Thomas admits to being a gearhead himself and spent a portion of his signing bonus on a 2015 Yukon.
He says there are connections between his dad’s athletic endeavours and his own.
“I think just the way he handled the media, the way he treated the fans,” Thomas said. “I saw him go through all that.”
He had made a habit of paying tribute to his father by wearing jersey No. 9 on his various teams. That was Mike’s preferred number for his car.
To start this Short Season Single A campaign in Vancouver, though, the younger Thomas is wearing No. 4. What’s up with that, Lane? “The day in Florida (extended spring training) that we were picking numbers I had to take my girlfriend to the airport,” said Thomas, who lost No. 9 to outfielder Austin Davis.