(This is the third installment of “Where Are They Now” in which we catch up with some of the great players in Long Island history. Previously, we featured James Bailin and Jeff Tyler. Thank you to Prime Performance for sponsoring this year’s series.)
The Early Days
Jake Thomas was raised in Merrick, NY. He is the youngest of two children, his sister being one year older. After moving a few times during his youth, Jake’s family settled in Merrick when he was in 3rd grade.
He was a die-hard sports fan, he also played hockey and football until high school.
His favorite team was the New York Yankees. At the first baseball game he attended in 2nd grade, he was fortunate enough to get Jorge Posada to give him his game used bat when he wished him a Happy Birthday prior to the game.
Merrick was a particularly strong baseball town when Jake was a kid. They won New York State twice when he played Little League. When he was 12, they traveled up to Bristol, CT for the regional but lost to Staten Island, who advanced to Williamsport, PA for the LLWS.
Calhoun HS
Calhoun was always a strong team under legendary coach Joe Corea (676 career wins). When Jake got to high school, they became a force in Nassau County. He was called up to varsity for the playoffs as a freshman.
Jake worked with Nick Clark as his private hitting instructor during high school.
“Nick is the most down-to-earth guy,” he said. He articulates the process of the swing very well. He’s just such a good guy. You could be having a bad day – a miserable day, and Nick would have a way of always being able to pick you up,” he said.
By the time he was a sophomore, he was the starting catcher and among the best players in the county.
2010 was an exceptional season for Calhoun who captured the Nassau County Class AA Championship in 2010 over MacArthur, who had swept them during the regular season led by Josh Barry and Frankie Vanderka.
“We were definitely the underdogs going into that. During the regular season when we played, it just felt like we couldn’t hit them. In the County Finals, we won Game 1, we hit pretty good. In Game 2, we were down big in the sixth and we came all the way back, scoring 8 straight runs. It was pretty crazy.”
Thomas undersold just how dramatic the win was as they were down 7-0 and somehow came back to win the County Championship.
They advanced to the Long Island Championship but were defeated by Lindenhurst at Farmingdale State College.
Despite the ending, it was an outstanding season for Jake who batted .517 with 8 HRs, 41 RBIs and a .645 OBP in 33 games. He lost out on the Diamond Award to Bryan Verbitsky of Island Trees, but Thomas wouldn’t be denied the next year.
Thomas noted that they were returning most of their team for the next season and had their sights set high.
“That group was the same group that won back-to-back State Championships in Little League. We felt like we had some unfinished business”
Calhoun came out of the gates red-hot in 2011. They went undefeated during conference play (18-0), but ran into a very strong Carey team in the semifinals who defeated them. Carey would go on to win the Long Island Championship against Sachem North that season.
Jake was the recipient of the 2011 Diamond Award. He batted .485 with 7 HRs, 31 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, .648 OBP and incredible .941 SLG. For his career, he batted.465 with a program record 20 HRs, 99 runs scored, 95 RBIs and the team went 45-9 with him behind the plate.
His recruiting process occurred during the summer following his junior season. He noted that he was “dead set on a high academic schools.” After playing summer ball with the LI Storm and spending 30 straight days on the road, he got plenty of exposure to some of the top schools in the country. He narrowed down his choices to Binghamton, St. Joseph’s (Philadelphia) and Cornell.
“I went to visit Binghamton and just fell in love with the campus.” His strength was in math and numbers so he decided studying finance was a perfect fit for him. He announced his commitment during September of his senior year.
He credits his LI Storm coach, Shaun Manning, with helping him during his college recruiting process.
Binghamton
“When I got to campus I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know one kid on the team. Looking around, I was like there’s some big kids, holy cow, I don’t know what to expect.”
He stood out enough to be the starting catcher, batting third in the order on Opening Day against VCU. He would not relinquish that spot in the batting order for his four year career. He wound up performing very well as a freshman – batting .296 with 3 HRs, 24 RBIs and 17 runs scored over 41 games.
That summer, he played in the Cal Ripken League for the Herndon Braves.
The following season, Binghamton took the next step and captured the America East title by winning 3 of their 4 games in the Conference Tournament, defeating Maine in the finals.
The Bearcats advanced to the NCAA Regionals against host No. 7 NC State. That team was loaded, with future big leaguers Carlos Rodon and Trea Turner. They hung tough, but lost 4-2. They were eliminated by No. 23 Ole Miss.
It was an outstanding year for Thomas, he noted that it was his best collegiate season. He started all 55 games and led the America East in AVG (.371), walks (45), SLG (.522) and OBP (.517). He compiled 5 HRs, 37 RBIs and 42 runs scored. Thomas was named first team All-America East and All-Northeast region.
He played in the NECBL that summer for the Sanford Mariners.
In 2014, Binghamton defended their crown, winning the America East Championship for a second straight year. They defeated Stony Brook in the finals in a 12-inning thriller by the score of 8-7. They advanced to the NCAA Regional where they lost to Oklahoma State and the University of Nebraska.
It was a bit of down season for Thomas who batted .270 but increased his HR total to 6 and drove in 35 runs. Thomas noted that he had garnered some interest from scouts leading up to the draft but the interest was tempered when he broke his foot in the NCAA Regional. He was slated to play in the Cape Cod League that summer, but the injury caused some uncertainty and he wound up going back to Sanford in the NECBL.
He went back to Binghamton for his senior year, and he got off to a great start. He notched a hit in 14 of his first 15 games including a 4-for-5 performance with 5 RBIs in the first weekend of the season at Auburn. He also put together a red-hot 4-game stretch in April when he had multi hits in each game.
As a team, Binghamton had a down year, finishing 6-16-1 in conference play and not qualifying for the America East Conference tournament.
With his stellar college career in the books, he was able to turn his attention to the MLB Draft.
Thomas noted how crazy the MLB Draft process is. He had heard from several teams leading up to the draft, but did not hear from any of them once the draft began. Frustrated with the process, he even turned it off and stopped following the picks.
Sure enough, his father came outside enthusiastically to inform him he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 27th round.
“It was the coolest moment ever. I couldn’t even believe it. Everyone is just so happy for you. I heard from all my family and friends and enjoyed it for the first couple of days before heading down to Florida.
Just like that, he was a professional baseball player.
Pro Baseball
Thomas was assigned to Dunedin, FL.
“It was kind of like first year of college all over again. You look around and see these players from all over, all different countries and don’t know what to expect. But you start playing and you feel just fine.”
In his first pro season he played in Rookie Ball and compiled a respectable .758 OPS over 47 games.
“That first offseason I really trained hard. I trained, I put on a lot of muscle and I had to work too.”
The next season, he got off to a great start. He noted “I really tore it up in Spring Training but didn’t get assigned to a team – I got sent to extended spring training. Then eventually I went to A-Ball and started out really well.” Overall, his numbers did not stand out as he batted .244 with a .640 OPS during the 2016 season.
In 2017, he was in A-Ball and was a reserve but an injury to a regular pressed him into regular playing time.
“I did very well. At one point, I was leading every level of pro ball in OBP. You always like to think you have a shot but the organization was so loaded at the time – they had Vlad Guerrero, Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio on my team. I don’t think I was ever in a spot to get fast tracked,” he noted. He was promoted to Double-A in the 2017 season as a bench player that would play “1 of every 5 games or so”. He was eventually sent down to High A.
Fortunately, he was able to win a championship in the Florida State League with Dunedin and he played a huge role in that championship game, getting the game-winning hit for future Jays manager John Schneider. He enjoyed his time playing for him.
“He was the absolute man. He has such a feel for players and for the team. He knows people very well.”
Going into the 2018 season, Thomas had the misfortune of tearing his ankle. While he didn’t get an MRI at the time, he knew it was bad.
“I was trying to make a team, but I couldn’t tie my shoe laces. I tried to rehab it and it just never got better.”
Once that happened, he knew his time had come. “I had no itch to get back to playing. There’s so much travel. The less you think you have a chance to make it, the tougher it is to stay in it. It’s such an uphill battle,” he said in regards to the realties of being a minor leaguer.
“I was satisfied with the run I gave.”
The Next Chapter
Thomas was always a great student so his transition into the next chapter of his life was much smoother than some minor leaguers. He started a sports agency called “One Vision Sports” with his buddy. They represented baseball and hockey players and at its peak, they were representing over a dozen players. Eventually, they decided it had run its course when his partner had a great opportunity to work full-time at a huge hockey agency.
“It’s a tough industry. We busted our butts but it’s a really long road.”
Thomas took a job at Prospect Sports giving hitting lessons to young ballplayers. While he loved it, his career was in finance.
In 2022, he got a full-time job as a Certified Financial Planner at Janney Montgomery Scott. While he still enjoys hanging out at Prospect Sports, he noted his full-time job simply takes up a lot of time and doesn’t allow much time for lessons.
He was also dealt a hardship in his personal life with the loss of his father, Brooks. He had been battling cancer on-and-off for 17 years. It was in Stage 4 when Jake was in middle school and he was able to fight for many more years. Incredibly, he was able to watch Jake’s entire professional baseball career as well as his wedding.
“He literally did everything for me. He was at every lesson, every practice. He coached me in baseball and hockey. He was just such a good, happy person. Whatever he could do, he would do. I wouldn’t be where I am without him. He got to see everything; he got to see me get married. The medicine they gave him kept him 100% functional until last year when he started to break down.”
Brooks worked as a Director for the Joe Namath Foundation which raises money for childhood diseases and other charities.
Additionally, Jake received some great news recently when he was inducted into Binghamton Hall of Fame two months ago.
It was a roller coaster of emotions for Jake Thomas over the past few years, but he has certainly left his mark on the baseball world. He will go down as one of the best players to ever come out of Nassau County and also one of the best to ever play at SUNY Binghamton.
