Thompson traded to Tampa
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Thompson traded to Tampa
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CHICAGO — Rich Thompson waited eight years for the second chance and it finally arrived in the form of a phone call at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday. Ryne Sandberg told him his flight to Florida was at 1:45 p.m. He was going back to the majors.
The Phillies traded Thompson, a fan favorite at triple-A Lehigh Valley, to Tampa Bay for outfielder Kyle Hudson. Thompson was en route Wednesday afternoon to join the Rays, who are playing Boston in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"It's awesome," Thompson said by phone from the Charlotte airport.
Thompson spent 25 days in the majors eight years ago with Kansas City. He batted once and is the only non-pitcher since 1947 to record two outs with his only major-league swing.
Now he has another chance.
The Inquirer profiled Thompson this past Sunday. He spent five years in the Phillies organization and is the IronPigs' franchise leader in games played (468), hits (452) and stolen bases (134). He was hitting .307 with a .788 OPS in 88 at-bats for Lehigh Valley in 2012.
Thompson lives about 30 minutes from Tropicana Field, so he said he packed everything from his apartment in Allentown and set off for the next chapter.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Hey, maybe the Rays have a scout living in the area and reading the Inquirer on the weekends. Good for Thompson. Do well!— calm weather- Good luck to Rich Thompson in Tampa Bay. Joe Maddon is the best manager in the game and specializes in using his entire 25 man roster with a purpose. Thompson was always a good soldier in Lehigh Valley. I never understood that the Phils never even gave Thompson an opportunity as a September call up. He had good seasons swiping bags in AAA.— Seeing Red
- Looks like he has a chance to play with a championship team this year.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- Good luck. I will miss seeing you in an IronPigs uniform tonight when I am at Coca-Cola Park. You deserve this.— Brooklands
- Nothing on Hudson? Don't you thing the readers want to know what the Pigs got in return for a fan favorite? Incomplete reporting, Gelbsie.— gentian
- The WS is ours!— 4thand10
- I saw the headline and thought they got rid of Milt again. Anything to say about Kyle Hudson besides his name?— burholme
- with the Phillies positioned as they are, why not have this guy on the team--a shot of energy is what they need & what he would provide— pa2cp
- There is a reason nothing else was said. he's at best a minor league depth player, with no major league potential whatsover. this was a move to give an opportunity to a player who has been a good soldier and a team player over the years.— CosmoK
- If there motive was to help a former teamate get another shot at the bigs, than that is dumb!
Baseball is not a charity and its bad business to help any enemy team get stronger, regardless fo which league they play in.
— sdeens - sdeens - you're a fool.
Rich Thompson to the Rays is the "feel good story" of the day.
Good for him!— FishFryFrank - @sdeens, you're a moron!
Hopefully Thompson can stick with TB; well deserved opportunity.— JBinPA - Good luck Rich! I have been hoping you would get a shot. Make the most of it dude.— Jiminfl
- Ridiculous that there's not one word about the guy we got in exchange— VicM
- hudson is a LHB outfielder. Hes a speedster with no power. In 28 AB last year in majors be batted .143 with 2R, 4H and 2SB. This year in AAA he is hitting .291 with a .375 obp. he has 7Sb and been thrown out 4 times.
In 2011 between A+, AA and AAA he had 41 SB and batted .290+ with a .370+ obp.
— jeff gross
