How Hall of Famer Thome is linked to ‘old school’ Blue Jays outfielder Varsho
It’s been 20 years and Jim Thome nonetheless remembers particular particulars a few younger Daulton Varsho operating across the Philadelphia Phillies clubhouse.
Varsho’s father, Gary, was bench coach for the membership when Thome performed there within the early aughts and introduced his son to the ballpark typically. Thome shortly developed an affinity for the wide-eyed eight-year-old and spent loads of time flipping balls to him within the batting cage.
“I remember him having a good swing,” says the Hall-of-Fame first baseman, who spent 2003-05 with the Phillies and returned to the group in 2012. “You could tell he had the genetics. You could tell that he loved to play. He loved to hit and he just wanted to learn and be around the game and soak it all in.”
Thome’s function in Varsho’s life has developed from mentor to extra of a buddy over time. That’s why he made certain to message the 26-year-old outfielder when Varsho was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in a deal that despatched Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno to the Arizona Diamondbacks simply earlier than Christmas.
“It was a cool little moment there, a bonding moment where you appreciate looking back,” says Thome. “I smile as a result of I had a possibility to spend a while with him and now he’s a big-leaguer.”
Thome established a fame as one of many recreation’s premier sluggers throughout his 12 seasons in Cleveland. He left that group following the 2002 season and signed with the Phillies, the place he immediately struck up a friendship with Gary Varsho.
Thome says he seemed as much as the previous major-league outfielder and revered his management qualities. Gary had a singular means to make others really feel cared for and that manifested within the bench coach becoming a member of Thome within the outfield each afternoon for his conditioning routine.
The six-foot-four, 250-pound Thome was into his 30s by then and had a program of intermittent operating and strolling that helped him keep in optimum form. Gary made certain that Thome by no means went via it alone, build up a sweat of his personal as he took half.
Gary would carry Daulton, the youngest of his three youngsters, to the ballpark and go away him to fraternize with the gamers. That proved instrumental to his future.
“It was cool as a kid just being around them, knowing that I’m in a big-league clubhouse,” Varsho advised Nevada Sports Net in June of 2021. “But now, thinking about it, watching them work and going through their daily things, I think that’s what helped me ease myself into pro baseball a little bit.”
Spending time with Thome, a fellow left-handed hitter was significantly particular.
As Varsho grew older and began on his journey in skilled baseball, his path crossed Thome’s a number of occasions. The retired slugger occurred to be there when Varsho took half in a pre-draft exercise for the Chicago White Sox in 2017 and Thome was additionally in attendance when Varsho performed within the 2019 All-Star Futures Game.
“Jim Thome, he’s the best baseball player, best human being that you can ever meet in your life,” Varsho stated. “He’s down to earth. Great, great human.”
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“He has great talent,” says Thome of Varsho, who clubbed 27 residence runs in 2022 for the Diamondbacks throughout his first full MLB season and brings a much-needed left-handed energy presence to the Blue Jays’ lineup.
“He’s got great bat-to-ball skills. I think the one thing the fans of Toronto are going to realize is this kid can really hit. And he’s kind of an old-school player who really plays the game hard.”
Varsho was among the many greatest defensive outfielders within the sport final yr and, amazingly, additionally bought into 31 video games as a catcher. He’s slated to play left discipline for the Blue Jays however supplies a stage of versatility that Thome dubs extraordinarily uncommon.
The 52-year-old says he’s wanting ahead to watching Varsho’s profession unfold with the Blue Jays, but additionally provides that he’s excited for what Gary is experiencing as the daddy of a big-leaguer. Thome can considerably relate as his personal son, Landon, is a freshman in highschool and hopes to at some point pursue his personal profession within the sport.
“It’s a true feel-good story when these kids, like Daulton, had an opportunity to watch their dad and grow up in the game and then now fulfill their dreams,” says Thome.
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