If Only

Alek Thomas, the pride of Mt. Carmel High School on the Great South Side, pinch hit in the bottom of the eighth inning last night, a runner on, his team down by two runs. Of course, he homered (off of Craig Kimbrel, no less), and the Diamondbacks went on to beat the Phillies 6-5, knotting up the NLCS at two games apiece. Thomas has three homeruns this postseason in twenty-six at-bats. Consider that Oscar Colas of the White Sox had five in 245 at-bats, along with nineteen RBIs. Thomas is at five and counting. But the brain trust assembled by ex-GM Rick Hahn passed on Thomas in the 2018 draft for Steele Walker, who was out of the organization after two years. Because outfielders are like catchers in a Casey Stengel sort of way, Hahn went out and signed Colas in 2022. The rest is history.