A Memory Of A Lifetime. For Both My Friend Sterling Thompson -- And Me!
Sterlin Thompson is getting drafted by the team of his dreams -- to the actual Colorado Rockies! -- with pick No. 31 in the MLB Draft. On one of the most important nights of Sterlin Thompson’s life, I was lucky enough to be able to share it with him.
By KYLE CURTIS
In 2012, the Montreal Expos played the Colorado Rockies at Scott Carrigan Ballpark in Ocala, Florida. I happened to be on the Expos, as an eleven-year-old all I thought was how neat the old school uniforms were rather than the game at hand.
On the opposing team was a kid by the name of Sterlin Thompson who had already had multiple no-hitters by this point in the youth baseball season, Thompson had established a reputation within the community. Along with being a stellar pitcher at this age, he also displayed power that we’d never seen.
He added another no-hitter to his 11-year-old resume that night against my Expos.
Fast forward to 2022, Sterlin Thompson is getting drafted to the actual Colorado Rockies with pick No. 31 in the MLB Draft. On one of the most important nights of Sterlin Thompson’s life, I was lucky enough to be able to share it with him.
Draft night was held at the World Equestrian Center, Ocala’s newest addition. It was full of friends and family and some nerves leading up to his name ultimately being called.
“I would love to be a part of the Colorado Rockies,” Thompson said to me hours before the draft even started.
In the early part of the night, nerves began to settle in. As a friend of Sterlin since the first night we interacted at Scott Carrigan Field in Ocala, this is the most I had ever seen him let the moment get to him. Walk-offs against Florida State, clutch RBIs or even just making the routine ground ball play, nothing could have prepared him for this moment. A life-changing moment nonetheless, there wasn’t more of a perfect ending.
Thompson was born in Denver and grew up cheering for Rockies’ legends such as Troy Tulowitzki.
After receiving the call and returning back to the room where all of the people who helped shaped his baseball career were waiting anxiously as well, you were able to see the relief and excitement in Thompson’s eyes.
It was a vicarious thrill for me, sharing this moment. I knew that I would never experience anything like this ever again. A childhood friend I have seen evolve into one of the nation’s top athletes and see his dreams come true is something that is hard to put into words, even for a writer.
Once Thompson’s name was announced on ESPN the room exploded with cheers and hugs for a kid who has always done it the right way. Then it sunk in. Thompson embraced his mother and was fulfilled with all different kinds of emotions. Everything his parents had sacrificed and all the work he had put in had finally paid off.
On a night I will truly never forget, it still amazes me how a kid who played at the same ballpark as me while we were growing up made his dream come true. And I was able to share it.
One more note, on that night when I initially faced Sterlin Thompson in my sky-blue Expo’s uniform, I vividly remember thinking that this kid with the sports goggles and unreal bat is going to do something special one day.
I was only eleven, but even then, I knew Thompson’s potential and the kind of kid he was.
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