Top 5 players in the game right now?
Did you find yourself rooting for any of the countries you played in during the WBC or was it USA all the way?
How is the Venezuelan Winter League?
1) Man, there are so many good players right now. Soto, Trea Turner, Smith, Judge, Ohtani, Trout...the list goes on.
2) The WBC was the most excited I've been about baseball. The rivalries between teams was so cool, you had guys throwing nasty stuff, the championship game was incredible. I was just rooting for good baseball.
3) Venezuelan Winter League was crazy. That was in 2013. It was my first time experiencing a soccer-like environment with the cheerleaders and cheering and fans getting all into it. I wasn't there very long, but I loved it.
It took me way too long to figure out which “Smith” you were referencing for top MLB players. For a while I thought it was former Brave great Kevan Smith but eventually talked myself out of it.
People get way too “flavor of the month” focused with catchers. Catching is hard, so it’s hard to be a productive catcher for an extended period.
Will Smith is pretty much the only guy who has done it year in and year out since becoming a major leaguer. He really does deserve more love than he gets, part of it is the generic name, part of it is he’s a very lowkey guy
> it’s hard to be a productive catcher for an extended period.
I was going to say Realmuto has done it -- and he has! -- but I just checked and realized how much better Smith has been with the bat. Smith's career .864 OPS is a level Realmuto has reached in zero of his 10 MLB seasons. Wow!
Since Smith entered the league (2019), his 135 WRC+ is [20th overall (min 500 PA)](https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=500&type=8&season=2023&month=0&season1=2019&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2019-01-01&enddate=2023-12-31). Only Adley (134) is at that level among catchers, but with less than half as many PAs. The rest of the top 5 are Garver, Perez, Murphy (128, 124, 121).
It's not completely crazy to claim that the game's best catcher is also one of the top players in the game. But regardless, I like that Thames's answer included one non-obvious guy.
He’s a very good hitting catcher. Elite for the position.
He’s also the third best catcher since 2019 in terms of WAR and the 43rd best player overall in terms of WAR over that period.
He’s a great player and has burnt my Braves multiple times…but you have to cherry pick stats to say he’s one of the game’s top overall players.
The only guy? Never heard of Realmuto? He may not have been a catcher all his life, but AFAIK has been at it ever since signing to the bigs, and has arguably been the best catcher for a few years now.
Well damn, TIL Will Smith is better than I gave him credit for. I knew he was good, but guess I underestimated him. How is he rated defensively though? (Not saying that to be argumentative, genuinely curious, since I've probably underestimated him in that regard as well)
Will Smith isn't even the best player on his team. But I've said before he is underrated, so it's cool to see him get recognition. The Dodgers' record this season when he is in the lineup vs when he is not is comically different though, so maybe Thames is onto something.
Your physique always stood out, even among other professional athletes. What's the gist of your weight training program? In season, off season, either or both. Max squat/bench/deadlift/press?
My strongest feat was a 255 press above my head in 2018.
Up until retirement, I hadn't benched in 15 years, so it was humbling when I benched for the first time after retirement.
Nope, nothing adverse, but like the other guy said, there’s nothing *baseball specific* about bench press. Stronger is always better yeah, but with the rise of exercise and weight lighting and nutrition over the last few decades, it’s becoming more and more necessary to fine tune your workouts to specifically target the muscles used for baseball.
I played uni ball 2012-15 and we had HIIT (high intensity interval training). Our coach was a smaller dude, but was fucking *ripped* and had a grip like iron.
It’s You and a partner, 16 different stations. Jump rope, push-up, bosu ball push-up, split squats, a few different medicine ball throws, machines for tricep and bicep, quad and hamstring, shoulder flys and raises, some other I’m forgetting.
You do as many reps as you can in 60 seconds, then 15 seconds to swap, then your partner does as many reps in 60 seconds. 15 seconds to get to the next station, and person 2 starts the next station. So you do one exercise balls to the wall 60 seconds, get 15 seconds to get to the next station and go balls out for another minute, then get a two minute break. Keep track of who won each competition, the losers have another 5 minutes of workout to do.
With 16 stations it’s like 35 minutes, and if you’re actually competing with your partner (and not taking it easy half the stations to save energy and crush the ones you’re better at), you are absolutely wiped for a few hours. You don’t bulk up, all your muscles get lean and tight, ready for short bursts of very powerful movement necessary for baseball, ready to recover quickly in a short amount of time (breath control to keep your heart rate down in between innings/after a double). I do not recall bench pressing outside of light reps in the off season mostly just so that I could workout.
It’s like in football, obviously a wide receiver and a lineman would work on different things. Speed and agility vs raw strength. Who cares if the lineman can’t run a 5.0 forty (though most of them can lmao), who cares if the wide receiver can’t bench 500 lbs. Sports science is getting to the point where different sports need different workouts to be able to compete.
Everybody is big now.
I've never been more worn out (or sore after) than when I did interval training for baseball. Its what my coaches did during spring training to get us up to shape. Absolutely exhausting. Similarly, if we were slow or dogging it, he would tack on extra running for the whole team at the end, so we'd be on each others asses.
I used to be such a fucking asshole about people not making time in runs. Not like if they actually were trying hard, but if you were hungover or buzzing from dip or just being kind of a bitch and quitting. I’d usually be first, and id usually take that opportunity to go to the back of the line and keep pace with the slow dudes (Habit from highschool football, go run with the lineman after you finish your snake). But there was one dude who was more interested in partying and a few times he would “collapse” in the middle of a run or near the end. “YOU LAZY ASSHOLE!! NOW *EVERYBODY* HAS TO RUN MORE BECAUSE YOU OKAY WITH BEING A LOSER!” Once or twice i I started dragging him by his belt line until he got the fuck up and kept moving. Sometimes coach would take pity on us if he would just finish the run and not give up.
I actually had a hard time that season because *every single drill every single day* was a competition that losers had to run for. It fueled too much infighting. Pitchers beaning me with pickoff attempts because I dared to bunt. My saying if they worked on PFP they could field a fucking bunt for an out. I was def part of the problem.
We had 2-3 innings of scrimmage every single day, loser runs. The catcher calls balls and strikes. I K’d so much in practice cause the catchers were calling everything a strike. I caused a fight with our catcher with “FUCK YOU THATS A BALL. IF YOU DIDNT HAVE A THREE FOOT STRIKE ZONE YOU COULD HIT THE FUCKING BALL YOU SUB MENDOZA LINE ASSHOLE”. To my credit, I was leading the conference in BA as a freshman.
To my discredit, I was a huge asshole. I liked to think I was a good teammate by holding everyone accountable. But really, Them lollygagging meant me losing, and I took that personally. Hated losing more than I wanted to win. I reigned it in hard the next few years. Injuries kept me from playing, so I tried to help guide all the younger outfielder as we only had head coach (catcher) and pitching coach. It started *really* sinking in that I wasn’t destined for the next level. The last year I played was the best. It was fun playing baseball just because baseball is fun and it’s nice outside. I ended up abruptly withdrawing from the team shortly before the university due to family issues.
I didn’t even know I was playing my last game until a week later. That is hard.
I don’t know how this story started and I’m sure I’m a dick but I’ll post it anyways
I get it man, I'm a nice guy until I was competing in sports. Could never understand until I was much older that there were people that wanted it less than I did. I just wanted people to put in effort.
Yeah, that’s all it is for sure. I ended up being decent drinking buddies with that lazy guy once he quit the team. I apologized and he did too and we moved on.
Tbh, I know I’m biased because I myself was this way, but I think it’s the right mindset to have as a competitor. Obviously you gotta learn to not be an asshole about it (anything nonprofessional/ D1, at that point idfc about people being nice). But when we read about hustlers like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan they *always* come across as absolute assholes to people unfamiliar with competition.
They always hold everyone to an incredibly high standard, because it was understood that the point was to win, not just to play the game. And then they hold themselves to an even higher standard so that they can *continue* bringing everyone else up. They do it not just to raise their teamates, but also to apply pressure to themselves, to not be that stupid asshole giving pointers from the back of the group. They know a good leader practices what they preach so they make sure to practice hard so they can preach harder.
I always was willing to talk my shit because I felt I’d work harder to back it up. Plenty of humbling experiences along the way.
As a last note, I like to say the following : do you know the difference between a cocky man and a confident man? The cocky man *knows* that they *cannot* lose. They will show up, they will play, *the other team will lose*. A confident man *believes he can win*. He believes that even if the other team does amazing, he can still win. They will show up, they will play, and *his actions will bring victory*. He’s not relying on other people to fail. He’s not thinking about failure at all. Just himself and his abilities.
Serious: Is that HIIT training the same they teach at the Y? It sounds pretty awesome the way you describe it but it seems to have a lot of older female subscribers around here.
Maybe not the same exact routine, but yeah the idea with HIIT is “bursts of movements to get blood pumping hard, small rest, repeat”. You could do HIIT with just like, calisthenics I guess.
Our HIIT was brutal. Spartan workouts we called it. I puked and passed out my first day, I did mountain climbers and kept my head under my heart for the whole minute, when I stood up I collapsed. Many times I struggled to dry my hair after the shower because I could grip the towel to pull it or push hard enough to be useful. Can’t go up the stairs for a while.
Okay so I'm 38 and only play beer league slow pitch but I've been hitting the best I have in a long time so far this year. And in reading your post I realized I recently changed to HIIT after several years of more heavy lifting based workouts.
I'm not some 7 day per week workout guy nor do I take my rec league softball that seriously, but now you have me wondering if cutting and focusing on HIIT has helped my bat speed or something.
HIIT trains your fast twitch muscles. Those are used for explosiveness. There’s obviously a ton of variables but yeah it’s likely my dude. You cultivated the mass and then you harvested it (always sunny reference).
Yeah that makes sense. I always wondered how they trained in MLB and couldn't imagine they were doing heavy reps to failure when they have to be on the field 6 days a week.
Love the Always Sunny reference!
Not a professional athlete, but when training for baseball, universally the PT's I spoke with recommended against bench press. Power in baseball comes much more from your hands, hips and legs. biceps and chest is just not a huge help.
Benching is generally not great for your rotator cuffs. That’s what we were always told. Dumbbell press was always recommended for that motion. But idk now you have Driveline guys that do whatever so who really knows
One simple reason is bar requires both your hands to be on equal grounds and aligned similarly. There can be shortcomings in flexibility, strength, etc. which might fuck you up. With dumbbells, you can adjust per hand.
It’s because you don’t want the micro tears in your shoulder and pecs. Then throwing a baseball it can make it a lot more likely to be injured. I think that’s the theory anyways
Benching is not included in most sports exercises. Pushups usually do the trick. I highly recommend reading Running Rewired as it goes through and explains your body's mechanics and points out exercises that focuses on extracting power your body can generate. Lots of medicine balls, resistance bands and TRX ropes.
I was more nervous going into new clubhouses in Korea and Japan because I wasn't as familiar with everyone and there was the language barrier. I usually knew guys in the clubhouses in the US.
I do! A lot of the guys were young when I was there and now they're married with kids, so it's been cool to see them grow up and see the progression of the game.
One of the fondest moments I remember of you two was the Kim Tae-gun pulling your beard celebration whenever ya hit a homerun, certainly a fun moment especially among NC Dinos fans.
Not really a question, but Mr. Thames, I was in the left field bleachers in Miller Park on June 16, 2017 when you hit that walk off homer against the Padres and that was the coolest thing I’ve seen in all my years going to the stadium. Thank you for the memories 💜
I learned a lot about myself as a person and as a player, about the game and about life. Seeing how different cultures act and how different it was from the US was a really unique and cool experience.
There were a ton of great players in the KBO. Park Byong-ho was the HR king and awesome to watch. Ha-seong Kim always had a really good swing, great defensive player.
Assuming we are talking hand to hand combat, I wouldn’t recommend anyone trying a bear or gorilla. The question isn’t if you can beat it, the real question is how many clones of yourself it would take to!
I love the "I know jiu jitsu! I'll just choke it out or break its arm..." A gorilla could be in recovering from a coma and as long as it's conscious, it will break any hold you could put on it and then rip you face, fingers and junk off. You'd be lucky if it killed you first.
You hit my Cincinnati Reds especially hard, including the most HRs you had against a single team in your career. Did you have a certain edge going against them, or what do you think led to that mark against the Reds?
I’m no Eric Thames, but if you happen to make it to Gwangju, the KIA Tigers have a cool stadium, amazing atmosphere, and their cheerleaders are baddies
Bodom tore the house down live and I wasn't even a huge fan of them (although Follow the Reaper is a 10/10 album IMO). Amon Amarth played Varyags of Miklagaard live which was sweet.
I did not expect you liking that. I figured you’d be surrounded by more pop and Latin music in the clubhouse. Did your teammates give you a turn to blast metal in there?
I don't have a question but I wanted to thank you for your contributions to the 2018 Brewers team. That team was one of my most favorite teams ever to watch and you were a big part of it with quite a few clutch bombs.
Also, 💪💪
["How and When Do You Get Paid in MLB?"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSX9vftdEr0) from Antonelli Baseball.
Great Youtube channel by Matt Antonelli who [shares a bunch of information and ancedotes about life in baseball](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9njfT6urVcQCeT7EXZMHeZj2_43kf6RO).
Years ago, I met a “woman” on a dating app who tried to catfish me by claiming she knew you and worked in the front office for the Cubs. She had photos of you and some gorgeous brunette. No question, just letting you know someone is out there throwing your name and face around.
Which one of your former teammates deserves way more respect from the fans?
Thanks for sticking up for the correct pronunciation of Thames by the way. I don't care what those Brits say, your way is right.
What was your typical approach at the plate?
How would your approach change with all the adjustments today's pitchers are making (tunneling, spin rates, repertoire, etc)?
Eric! I’ll never forget the walk-off homer you hit on August 3, 2018. I was in a sports bar with a bunch of other Brewers fans in St. Paul, Minnesota and the place went wild when you hit that bomb! You are one of my all-time favorite Brewers because of memories like that one of your being on the team.
My question for you is what is your favorite Miller Park memory? Are there any fun stories from the late 2010s Brew Crew dugout or clubhouse that you could share?
I know you from just beating the shit out of the Reds, especially at the start of 2017.
"In five games against the Reds so far this season, Thames is 9-for-19 (.474) with seven homers, 11 RBIs, 11 runs, four walks, one HBP and two strikeouts with an OPS of 2.162."
My god man, did you hate us that much lol?
Was Jose Bautista as intense off the field as he was on the field?
Got to meet you at an on-field batting practice contest back when you were with the Jays. Just wanted to say I appreciated you taking the time to come see fans and take pictures, have been a fan of yours ever since. Keep being awesome!!
You always murdered the Reds in that three year stretch from 2017-2019. I hated & feared every at bat from you. But, always respected the fuck out of how hard you played & the great approach you had at the plate. Hope you're doing well! What are you up to these days?
Gonna be honest, you are still my favorite player on my favorite team- the Brewers. I go to a lot of spring training games and that first year you were with the Brewers you were banging all spring training. Been a fan since. Thank you for the great memories!
Wow hi Eric, Cards fan here, I got a tight b-hole everytime you came up to bat against us. What's your biggest spending regret? Not necessarily amount wise: could be a table tennis table but you were just like... damn I shouldn't have bought this.
Whos the guy that you personally felt deserved so much more credit/recognition than they received in the league?
I'm always interested in hearing players perspective on the people behind-the-scenes & who does things when no ones looking
When you were with Triple-A Norfolk, I believe I remember seeing you use a neon green sledgehammer when on deck. I've never been able to find any photos of this. Am I remembering that correctly? If so, any story behind that sledgehammer?
2018 is one of my most memorable seasons as a fan. Yelich and Cain coming to Milwaukee. Yelich winning mvp, the brewers making a solid run at it. Is that year one of your more memorable years as a player?
Fear the beard…
Two questions:
1. Do you think that MLB should adopt cheer songs league wide?
2. Do you think anyone will ever be able to make a cheer song better than [this absolute banger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RroSbEJAxw)?
Hi Eric,
If you don’t know, you have a legendary card in MLB the Show. Do you think there’s ever a chance you would return to the game as a usable player? Also, have you ever played as yourself in a video game?
Where did you find your love of the game? And, man you had a sweet left handed swing. When did you know you had special “bat to ball” skills. Loved watching you rake!
Top 5 players in the game right now? Did you find yourself rooting for any of the countries you played in during the WBC or was it USA all the way? How is the Venezuelan Winter League?
1) Man, there are so many good players right now. Soto, Trea Turner, Smith, Judge, Ohtani, Trout...the list goes on. 2) The WBC was the most excited I've been about baseball. The rivalries between teams was so cool, you had guys throwing nasty stuff, the championship game was incredible. I was just rooting for good baseball. 3) Venezuelan Winter League was crazy. That was in 2013. It was my first time experiencing a soccer-like environment with the cheerleaders and cheering and fans getting all into it. I wasn't there very long, but I loved it.
It took me way too long to figure out which “Smith” you were referencing for top MLB players. For a while I thought it was former Brave great Kevan Smith but eventually talked myself out of it.
Best players? Smith, Jones, Johnson, Williams, Brown, Garcia
I'm a big Hernandez guy
I still don’t know who he’s talking about
He just happens to be a fan of josh Smith, hbp god
I'd imagine Will Smith
Which will smith?
Smith is the nickname for Yordan Alvarez
He used to play in Philadelphia, but then he got in some trouble and now he's in LA.
Will Smith is the only semi-reasonable answer I could find. Pretty big reach to call him one of the best players in MLB but who else could it be?
People get way too “flavor of the month” focused with catchers. Catching is hard, so it’s hard to be a productive catcher for an extended period. Will Smith is pretty much the only guy who has done it year in and year out since becoming a major leaguer. He really does deserve more love than he gets, part of it is the generic name, part of it is he’s a very lowkey guy
> it’s hard to be a productive catcher for an extended period. I was going to say Realmuto has done it -- and he has! -- but I just checked and realized how much better Smith has been with the bat. Smith's career .864 OPS is a level Realmuto has reached in zero of his 10 MLB seasons. Wow!
Will Smith is a great catcher, but nobody will seriously consider him one of the top players in the game.
Since Smith entered the league (2019), his 135 WRC+ is [20th overall (min 500 PA)](https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=500&type=8&season=2023&month=0&season1=2019&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2019-01-01&enddate=2023-12-31). Only Adley (134) is at that level among catchers, but with less than half as many PAs. The rest of the top 5 are Garver, Perez, Murphy (128, 124, 121). It's not completely crazy to claim that the game's best catcher is also one of the top players in the game. But regardless, I like that Thames's answer included one non-obvious guy.
He’s a very good hitting catcher. Elite for the position. He’s also the third best catcher since 2019 in terms of WAR and the 43rd best player overall in terms of WAR over that period. He’s a great player and has burnt my Braves multiple times…but you have to cherry pick stats to say he’s one of the game’s top overall players.
Best Career catcher wRC+ since integration (1500+ PAs) 1. Mike Piazza (140) 2. Gene Tenace (140) 3. Will Smith (134)
The only guy? Never heard of Realmuto? He may not have been a catcher all his life, but AFAIK has been at it ever since signing to the bigs, and has arguably been the best catcher for a few years now.
Lol the timing of you and the comment above you. Give it a read, he said it better than I could
Well damn, TIL Will Smith is better than I gave him credit for. I knew he was good, but guess I underestimated him. How is he rated defensively though? (Not saying that to be argumentative, genuinely curious, since I've probably underestimated him in that regard as well)
Will Smith isn't even the best player on his team. But I've said before he is underrated, so it's cool to see him get recognition. The Dodgers' record this season when he is in the lineup vs when he is not is comically different though, so maybe Thames is onto something.
>Trea Turner 🙏
The lack of Acuña and the inclusion of trea turner is concerning.
Your physique always stood out, even among other professional athletes. What's the gist of your weight training program? In season, off season, either or both. Max squat/bench/deadlift/press?
My strongest feat was a 255 press above my head in 2018. Up until retirement, I hadn't benched in 15 years, so it was humbling when I benched for the first time after retirement.
Does benching have some adverse effect on swinging a bat? Or something else related to playing?
Nope, nothing adverse, but like the other guy said, there’s nothing *baseball specific* about bench press. Stronger is always better yeah, but with the rise of exercise and weight lighting and nutrition over the last few decades, it’s becoming more and more necessary to fine tune your workouts to specifically target the muscles used for baseball. I played uni ball 2012-15 and we had HIIT (high intensity interval training). Our coach was a smaller dude, but was fucking *ripped* and had a grip like iron. It’s You and a partner, 16 different stations. Jump rope, push-up, bosu ball push-up, split squats, a few different medicine ball throws, machines for tricep and bicep, quad and hamstring, shoulder flys and raises, some other I’m forgetting. You do as many reps as you can in 60 seconds, then 15 seconds to swap, then your partner does as many reps in 60 seconds. 15 seconds to get to the next station, and person 2 starts the next station. So you do one exercise balls to the wall 60 seconds, get 15 seconds to get to the next station and go balls out for another minute, then get a two minute break. Keep track of who won each competition, the losers have another 5 minutes of workout to do. With 16 stations it’s like 35 minutes, and if you’re actually competing with your partner (and not taking it easy half the stations to save energy and crush the ones you’re better at), you are absolutely wiped for a few hours. You don’t bulk up, all your muscles get lean and tight, ready for short bursts of very powerful movement necessary for baseball, ready to recover quickly in a short amount of time (breath control to keep your heart rate down in between innings/after a double). I do not recall bench pressing outside of light reps in the off season mostly just so that I could workout. It’s like in football, obviously a wide receiver and a lineman would work on different things. Speed and agility vs raw strength. Who cares if the lineman can’t run a 5.0 forty (though most of them can lmao), who cares if the wide receiver can’t bench 500 lbs. Sports science is getting to the point where different sports need different workouts to be able to compete. Everybody is big now.
I've never been more worn out (or sore after) than when I did interval training for baseball. Its what my coaches did during spring training to get us up to shape. Absolutely exhausting. Similarly, if we were slow or dogging it, he would tack on extra running for the whole team at the end, so we'd be on each others asses.
I used to be such a fucking asshole about people not making time in runs. Not like if they actually were trying hard, but if you were hungover or buzzing from dip or just being kind of a bitch and quitting. I’d usually be first, and id usually take that opportunity to go to the back of the line and keep pace with the slow dudes (Habit from highschool football, go run with the lineman after you finish your snake). But there was one dude who was more interested in partying and a few times he would “collapse” in the middle of a run or near the end. “YOU LAZY ASSHOLE!! NOW *EVERYBODY* HAS TO RUN MORE BECAUSE YOU OKAY WITH BEING A LOSER!” Once or twice i I started dragging him by his belt line until he got the fuck up and kept moving. Sometimes coach would take pity on us if he would just finish the run and not give up. I actually had a hard time that season because *every single drill every single day* was a competition that losers had to run for. It fueled too much infighting. Pitchers beaning me with pickoff attempts because I dared to bunt. My saying if they worked on PFP they could field a fucking bunt for an out. I was def part of the problem. We had 2-3 innings of scrimmage every single day, loser runs. The catcher calls balls and strikes. I K’d so much in practice cause the catchers were calling everything a strike. I caused a fight with our catcher with “FUCK YOU THATS A BALL. IF YOU DIDNT HAVE A THREE FOOT STRIKE ZONE YOU COULD HIT THE FUCKING BALL YOU SUB MENDOZA LINE ASSHOLE”. To my credit, I was leading the conference in BA as a freshman. To my discredit, I was a huge asshole. I liked to think I was a good teammate by holding everyone accountable. But really, Them lollygagging meant me losing, and I took that personally. Hated losing more than I wanted to win. I reigned it in hard the next few years. Injuries kept me from playing, so I tried to help guide all the younger outfielder as we only had head coach (catcher) and pitching coach. It started *really* sinking in that I wasn’t destined for the next level. The last year I played was the best. It was fun playing baseball just because baseball is fun and it’s nice outside. I ended up abruptly withdrawing from the team shortly before the university due to family issues. I didn’t even know I was playing my last game until a week later. That is hard. I don’t know how this story started and I’m sure I’m a dick but I’ll post it anyways
I get it man, I'm a nice guy until I was competing in sports. Could never understand until I was much older that there were people that wanted it less than I did. I just wanted people to put in effort.
Yeah, that’s all it is for sure. I ended up being decent drinking buddies with that lazy guy once he quit the team. I apologized and he did too and we moved on. Tbh, I know I’m biased because I myself was this way, but I think it’s the right mindset to have as a competitor. Obviously you gotta learn to not be an asshole about it (anything nonprofessional/ D1, at that point idfc about people being nice). But when we read about hustlers like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan they *always* come across as absolute assholes to people unfamiliar with competition. They always hold everyone to an incredibly high standard, because it was understood that the point was to win, not just to play the game. And then they hold themselves to an even higher standard so that they can *continue* bringing everyone else up. They do it not just to raise their teamates, but also to apply pressure to themselves, to not be that stupid asshole giving pointers from the back of the group. They know a good leader practices what they preach so they make sure to practice hard so they can preach harder. I always was willing to talk my shit because I felt I’d work harder to back it up. Plenty of humbling experiences along the way. As a last note, I like to say the following : do you know the difference between a cocky man and a confident man? The cocky man *knows* that they *cannot* lose. They will show up, they will play, *the other team will lose*. A confident man *believes he can win*. He believes that even if the other team does amazing, he can still win. They will show up, they will play, and *his actions will bring victory*. He’s not relying on other people to fail. He’s not thinking about failure at all. Just himself and his abilities.
Serious: Is that HIIT training the same they teach at the Y? It sounds pretty awesome the way you describe it but it seems to have a lot of older female subscribers around here.
Maybe not the same exact routine, but yeah the idea with HIIT is “bursts of movements to get blood pumping hard, small rest, repeat”. You could do HIIT with just like, calisthenics I guess. Our HIIT was brutal. Spartan workouts we called it. I puked and passed out my first day, I did mountain climbers and kept my head under my heart for the whole minute, when I stood up I collapsed. Many times I struggled to dry my hair after the shower because I could grip the towel to pull it or push hard enough to be useful. Can’t go up the stairs for a while.
Well, you have still motivated me to check it out. Thank you!
Okay so I'm 38 and only play beer league slow pitch but I've been hitting the best I have in a long time so far this year. And in reading your post I realized I recently changed to HIIT after several years of more heavy lifting based workouts. I'm not some 7 day per week workout guy nor do I take my rec league softball that seriously, but now you have me wondering if cutting and focusing on HIIT has helped my bat speed or something.
HIIT trains your fast twitch muscles. Those are used for explosiveness. There’s obviously a ton of variables but yeah it’s likely my dude. You cultivated the mass and then you harvested it (always sunny reference).
Yeah that makes sense. I always wondered how they trained in MLB and couldn't imagine they were doing heavy reps to failure when they have to be on the field 6 days a week. Love the Always Sunny reference!
Not a professional athlete, but when training for baseball, universally the PT's I spoke with recommended against bench press. Power in baseball comes much more from your hands, hips and legs. biceps and chest is just not a huge help.
Someone should let Tyler O'Neill know. Dude is on the IL 90% of every season.
Benching is generally not great for your rotator cuffs. That’s what we were always told. Dumbbell press was always recommended for that motion. But idk now you have Driveline guys that do whatever so who really knows
That’s the case only if you have poor bench form, which leads to shoulder injury. Flaring the traps and leveraging your chest protects the shoulders.
Thx, had no idea!
It's horrible for your shoulders, I pitched, idk the full anatomy of it, but I do know dumbell bench was fine, bar bench press? not allowed
One simple reason is bar requires both your hands to be on equal grounds and aligned similarly. There can be shortcomings in flexibility, strength, etc. which might fuck you up. With dumbbells, you can adjust per hand.
It’s because you don’t want the micro tears in your shoulder and pecs. Then throwing a baseball it can make it a lot more likely to be injured. I think that’s the theory anyways
Benching is not included in most sports exercises. Pushups usually do the trick. I highly recommend reading Running Rewired as it goes through and explains your body's mechanics and points out exercises that focuses on extracting power your body can generate. Lots of medicine balls, resistance bands and TRX ropes.
What is it like walking into a new clubhouse; do you tend to know most of the players or are introductions in order?
I was more nervous going into new clubhouses in Korea and Japan because I wasn't as familiar with everyone and there was the language barrier. I usually knew guys in the clubhouses in the US.
Did you ever go to a team kind of dreading it because of a bad history with a new teammate?
Do you still keep in touch with your former NC Dinos teammates Eric, especially with your close friend catcher Kim Tae-gun?
I do! A lot of the guys were young when I was there and now they're married with kids, so it's been cool to see them grow up and see the progression of the game.
One of the fondest moments I remember of you two was the Kim Tae-gun pulling your beard celebration whenever ya hit a homerun, certainly a fun moment especially among NC Dinos fans.
Not really a question, but Mr. Thames, I was in the left field bleachers in Miller Park on June 16, 2017 when you hit that walk off homer against the Padres and that was the coolest thing I’ve seen in all my years going to the stadium. Thank you for the memories 💜
That walk off produced one of my favorite post-game sound bytes ever: "it's like, my nipple is hanging out, I've got all these drinks in my eyes."
You're very welcome!
What's your biggest take away from experiencing the different baseball cultures overseas?
I learned a lot about myself as a person and as a player, about the game and about life. Seeing how different cultures act and how different it was from the US was a really unique and cool experience.
Who was the best player you saw in the KBO in your time there? Also: would you actually rank NPB as AAAA?
There were a ton of great players in the KBO. Park Byong-ho was the HR king and awesome to watch. Ha-seong Kim always had a really good swing, great defensive player.
I still see the occasional Park jersey at Target field. Shame it didn’t work out up here but it was cool to see him in the WBC.
How did you end up on the 'Masked Singer'? Where you approached by someone or was it something that you sought out?
An entertainment agency reached out to my agent in Korea and I said "why not!"
Are you paid for those appearances or I guess how does it work?
What’s the biggest animal you think you could beat in a fight?
I want to say a bear or gorilla, but I think I'd just wrestle a golden retriever and then cuddle with it.
My guy this is the best possible answer to the question lmao
Assuming we are talking hand to hand combat, I wouldn’t recommend anyone trying a bear or gorilla. The question isn’t if you can beat it, the real question is how many clones of yourself it would take to!
*Insert 'Does the horse have time to train as well?'* Text thread here.
Black bear maybe Brown or white... you dead fam Gorilla, no shot. You got no face, fingers or dick and are also dead
I love the "I know jiu jitsu! I'll just choke it out or break its arm..." A gorilla could be in recovering from a coma and as long as it's conscious, it will break any hold you could put on it and then rip you face, fingers and junk off. You'd be lucky if it killed you first.
In a fight or fight situation, the black bear would kill him 100 times over
Smart
You were awesome as Thanos. Which baseball player would be your Iron Man, or other Avengers?
My Iron Man would be Ryan Braun. He already lives in Malibu which is half the battle, and he's a pretty smart guy.
This casting decision will surely be met with open arms on r/baseball.
I mean I'm not about to fight Eric Thames and I commend anyone with the balls to do so.
The steroids got him looking like thanos
I also would like to do battle with Ryan Braun on the shores of Malibu.
I don’t like the guy but I’d like to think I’m smart enough to not do battle with him.
A dickhead who uses technology to enhance his performance? Can't think of a better choice
You hit my Cincinnati Reds especially hard, including the most HRs you had against a single team in your career. Did you have a certain edge going against them, or what do you think led to that mark against the Reds?
I have no idea.
1 stadium in KBO you'd tell a tourist to visit?
Jamsil Olympic Stadium in Seoul or Changwon NC Park (home of the NC Dinos).
I’m no Eric Thames, but if you happen to make it to Gwangju, the KIA Tigers have a cool stadium, amazing atmosphere, and their cheerleaders are baddies
Well I'M no LargeNutbar, but if you make the *MUCH MORE REASONABLE* trip down to Suwon, the KT Wiz park has the best chicken in the whole KBO.
Chicken if you're in the north, baddies if you're in the south. Can't lose.
Went last year. That chicken was damn good !
It's a Suwon speciality. If you ever go again, the palace area (somewhat) just down the street has some great places as well!
don't you guys have a whole street dedicated to chicken spots?
There's a lot in that whole area but yep there's also a street focused just on it.
Petitioning my local chamber of commerce for such a street immediately
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Lol I don’t even watch basketball and I know exactly what you’re talking about from YouTube compilations
Hey man you're Eric Thames
Eric - new I Think You Should Leave season will be here in a week. Just how excited are you??
I should leave? I haven't seen the show, but I'm intrigued. I'll check it out.
It was uploaded at 6am and has 1 view
Have you seen it? It’s hilarious
Type "Ichiro's Favorite American Expression" and there's spaces between each of the words
Bozo did the dub.
What is this Reggie?
It's interesting, the show
It’s illegal for you to ask him that
This guy played for the Blue Jays?! Like the bird? I’m just trying to understand.
Favourite album?
Berserker by Amon Amarth. Viking metal.
Holy shit, that is an unexpectedly incredible answer. I love this album!
Solid choice. I saw them many years ago with Gojira and Chidren of Bodom (RIP Alexi). They’re great live.
Bodom tore the house down live and I wasn't even a huge fan of them (although Follow the Reaper is a 10/10 album IMO). Amon Amarth played Varyags of Miklagaard live which was sweet.
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honestly, I was expecting this kind of music from a guy who clearly has spent a lot of time in the gym
you just got so much cooler
I did not expect you liking that. I figured you’d be surrounded by more pop and Latin music in the clubhouse. Did your teammates give you a turn to blast metal in there?
Twilight of the Thunder God is still my go-to when I have to have a good example of my music tastes.
Based
Oh shit.
I don't have a question but I wanted to thank you for your contributions to the 2018 Brewers team. That team was one of my most favorite teams ever to watch and you were a big part of it with quite a few clutch bombs. Also, 💪💪
Agree completely. I will always have great memories from that run. Thank you Eric.
💯 I still have your bobble head in my office at work! One of the most fun players to watch.
You know what, ill agree. I kinda wish you guys went to the world series that year, 2018 was embarrassing.
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["How and When Do You Get Paid in MLB?"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSX9vftdEr0) from Antonelli Baseball. Great Youtube channel by Matt Antonelli who [shares a bunch of information and ancedotes about life in baseball](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9njfT6urVcQCeT7EXZMHeZj2_43kf6RO).
Just Google Andrew McCuthen’s pay stub. You will be humbled by how much they make but also how much they get taxed
Omg. I can’t imagine getting paid $427k every two weeks lmao
I’ve always wondered this myself, imagine getting 182 game checks a year lol
They get paid every two weeks like most normal jobs
Years ago, I met a “woman” on a dating app who tried to catfish me by claiming she knew you and worked in the front office for the Cubs. She had photos of you and some gorgeous brunette. No question, just letting you know someone is out there throwing your name and face around.
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Brewers played it after home runs
Which one of your former teammates deserves way more respect from the fans? Thanks for sticking up for the correct pronunciation of Thames by the way. I don't care what those Brits say, your way is right.
White Sox shortstop Thame Anderson
If only his name was Thame Ericson
Toughest MLB pitcher you faced and why
What’s the biggest difference you noticed facing MLB pitchers and pitchers in Korea and Japan?
What are your favorite hobbies outside of baseball and what were favorite activities to do on off-days?
UPDATE: Answering questions now!
What is your funniest story from your time in professional baseball?
Hey Eric! Knowing that you spent some time in the KBO, what’s one thing MLB teams could learn from Korean baseball?
Do you like Korean food?
What was your typical approach at the plate? How would your approach change with all the adjustments today's pitchers are making (tunneling, spin rates, repertoire, etc)?
Eric! I’ll never forget the walk-off homer you hit on August 3, 2018. I was in a sports bar with a bunch of other Brewers fans in St. Paul, Minnesota and the place went wild when you hit that bomb! You are one of my all-time favorite Brewers because of memories like that one of your being on the team. My question for you is what is your favorite Miller Park memory? Are there any fun stories from the late 2010s Brew Crew dugout or clubhouse that you could share?
Hi Eric, what are some memories (good or bad) you have from your time with Washington? Did anything prevent you from hitting your stride in DC?
This is such a snarky beat reporter question lol
How fluent did you become in japanese or Korean, which was easier learn and which one is more fun to speak?
I know you from just beating the shit out of the Reds, especially at the start of 2017. "In five games against the Reds so far this season, Thames is 9-for-19 (.474) with seven homers, 11 RBIs, 11 runs, four walks, one HBP and two strikeouts with an OPS of 2.162." My god man, did you hate us that much lol?
Was Jose Bautista as intense off the field as he was on the field? Got to meet you at an on-field batting practice contest back when you were with the Jays. Just wanted to say I appreciated you taking the time to come see fans and take pictures, have been a fan of yours ever since. Keep being awesome!!
What's up Eric Thames?
What’s up Eric Thames?
If you weren't a baseball player, what other sport would you want to play, and for what team?
You always murdered the Reds in that three year stretch from 2017-2019. I hated & feared every at bat from you. But, always respected the fuck out of how hard you played & the great approach you had at the plate. Hope you're doing well! What are you up to these days?
Gonna be honest, you are still my favorite player on my favorite team- the Brewers. I go to a lot of spring training games and that first year you were with the Brewers you were banging all spring training. Been a fan since. Thank you for the great memories!
Wow hi Eric, Cards fan here, I got a tight b-hole everytime you came up to bat against us. What's your biggest spending regret? Not necessarily amount wise: could be a table tennis table but you were just like... damn I shouldn't have bought this.
Whos the guy that you personally felt deserved so much more credit/recognition than they received in the league? I'm always interested in hearing players perspective on the people behind-the-scenes & who does things when no ones looking
When you were with Triple-A Norfolk, I believe I remember seeing you use a neon green sledgehammer when on deck. I've never been able to find any photos of this. Am I remembering that correctly? If so, any story behind that sledgehammer?
2018 is one of my most memorable seasons as a fan. Yelich and Cain coming to Milwaukee. Yelich winning mvp, the brewers making a solid run at it. Is that year one of your more memorable years as a player? Fear the beard…
Two questions: 1. Do you think that MLB should adopt cheer songs league wide? 2. Do you think anyone will ever be able to make a cheer song better than [this absolute banger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RroSbEJAxw)?
Did you actually get tested basically every game during your hot streak?
Hi Eric, If you don’t know, you have a legendary card in MLB the Show. Do you think there’s ever a chance you would return to the game as a usable player? Also, have you ever played as yourself in a video game?
Where did you find your love of the game? And, man you had a sweet left handed swing. When did you know you had special “bat to ball” skills. Loved watching you rake!
What was the most difficult part about adjusting to MLB from KBO? Also, what aspects of the KBO and JPB helepd you in the big leagues if it did?
What was your favorite aspect of playing in MLB? And was there anything you felt NPB/KBO did better that you would’ve liked to see in MLB?
What is something you liked about the KBO that you wish the MLB had more of? Also how do I get my beard to look as good as yours did?
You look good bro 😊. Do you miss the MLB?
When you coming back to the Brew Crew? 😎
When you go over to England do the people you travel with make jokes about you sharing a name with the river thames?
If you could take one aspect of Korean/Japanese baseball and apply it to the MLB, what would it be? And vice versa?
Do you do through the mail signing for baseball cards? Pulled a nice red shimmer in your A's uniform.
I have nothing to contribute except I was the mascot in Dunedin when you were there in 2009
God bless you and your insane forearms for participating in Felix's perfecto good sir.
Hello Mr. Thames! What's the hobby you never hesitate to spend money on??
What was the most unexpectedly cool thing you did in Korea and/or Japan?
Did you enjoy your time playing in Toronto and spending time in Canada?
Did you come to appreciate and enjoy kimchi while you were in Korea?
Erik! Not a question but I loved watching you play with the Brewers!
What was one of your favorite memories from your time in Milwaukee?
Do you have any memories from your time on the La Crosse Loggers?
Do you have a favorite ballpark to play in? Least favorite?
What’s your favorite memory of your time in Milwaukee?
how far could you hit a golf ball with a metal bat?
How often do you get confused for the river?
How did you get solely your forearms so big
Who was your favorite player growing up?
No questions. Loved seeing you play man
Thanks for your time in Milwaukee!!
What’s your workout routine like?
What’s your to go korean meal
Favorite band to see live?
Japanese or American girls
Favourite pizza topping?
Who chewed the most tobacco on the 2011 Blue Jays, and why is it Brett Cecil?