Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1990 TAG: 9004110019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"People always said, `Look at that Shaun Thomas. He could have been, if he'd have worked a little harder he would've been, or he should've been . . . ,' " said Thomas, the Hokies' center fielder. "I was tired of hearing that. I don't want to hear it. From now on I want people, when they think about me, I want them to say, `He was or he did, he can, or he has.' "
In his freshman and sophomore years, Thomas wasn't. This year, he is.
Thomas is hitting .360 for the 23-7 Hokies with 27 RBI - most of those coming after he was moved from the ninth spot in the batting order to leadoff March 22 against Radford. He has 11 stolen bases, is second on the team with 41 hits and has scored 34 runs, tied for second on the team behind Len Wentz. He drove in 15 runs in a recent six-game stretch, batting .400 and collecting two doubles, two triples and a home run. He has six triples, a school record for one season.
On Monday, his RBI double in the bottom of the 14th inning gave Tech its 12th straight win, 5-4 against Liberty.
His whole season is a contrast. These were his career stats before this season: 29 at-bats, five hits, a .176 average, two RBI and 14 strikeouts. Thomas showed no signs of change for the better part of last fall's practice. No baseball fan, then, could blame Tech coach Chuck Hartman for preparing to boot a scholarship player - and his potential - out of the Hokies' program.
"He almost got cut at the end of fall," Hartman said. "He had always been close [to being] the best athlete as far as pure athletic ability on our team, but he had never been a real hard worker."
Thomas said his attitude hurtled south during his sophomore year, when he wasn't automatically bequeathed the status and the at-bats of former Hokies stars Trey McCoy and Alan El-Amin. So he waded through two unproductive seasons, then trudged through fall practice. Until he did an about-face.
"I'm not sure how badly he wanted to play up to that point," Hartman said.
That point was Thomas' flashpoint. It came shortly after a multi-strikeout fall scrimmage in which he also dropped a fly ball. At the next scrimmage, Thomas was sitting on the bench watching a freshman playing his position better than he had for two-plus years. Then, with no small help from a dollar sign flashing in his head, he awoke.
"It didn't really bother me. I was like, `Oh, well,' " Thomas said of that first scrimmage, then related the brainstorm he had during the next scrimmage.
"It hit me right there: If I don't get my butt in gear here, I'll be on the bench another year. . . . In order for me to get drafted, I need to get started now."
Ah, the draft. In June, major league baseball teams will call the names of the nation's premier juniors (and some seniors). Signing bonuses will begin to flow. Thomas, a junior, wants to get the call, wants the money that's available in pro baseball and wants to be drafted this year so he'll have better bargaining power. He knows he's a long shot because of his first two years, but he said he will consider any offer.
Until then, he'll probably have Hartman wishing collegians were allowed bonuses.
"We finally made up our minds at the beginning of the year that we were going to put him in center field and see what he could do," Hartman said. "We worked our right fielder over there in case he fell on his face. [But] if this doesn't develop confidence, I don't know what will."
Not only has Thomas' splurge turned his career around, it has juiced up Tech's offense, about which Hartman had reservations before the season started. But the Hokies are hitting .325 as a team and have averaged almost nine runs per game, compared with their opponents' marks of .265 and about five runs per game. Since Thomas became the leadoff batter, Tech has gone 15-1 and won 13 straight.
"So far, they're proving me wrong," Hartman said of the unexpected offense, "and he's one of the reasons."
Thomas, a native of Pennsauken, N.J., has made one change in his game that wasn't mental. Knowing he needed to become more of a contact hitter - especially if he was to bat leadoff - Thomas changed the timing of his stride. Instead of beginning his stride as the pitcher releases, he now ends it as the pitcher releases. Although Thomas still leads the team in strikeouts (36 in 114 at-bats through Tuesday), Hartman said Thomas' stroke has improved.
And he is a long way from being cut.
"Sometimes you've got to seize opportunities when they arise, when they happen," Thomas said, thinking ahead to a possible pro career after this year, perhaps unaware of the irony that it took him three years to reach his baseball potential.
"I'm glad I turned it around. Right now, I could just be sitting around, watching the games instead of playing."
by CNB