His bags weren’t unpacked when Thomas received an email that he had been added to Great Britain’s roster for the preliminaries of the World Baseball Classic. He flew to New York on Wednesday for Thursday night’s first game against Israel in Brooklyn’s Cyclones Stadium.
“It just feels amazing — words can’t explain how good I’m feeling,” Thomas said. “This is something I worked for ever since I found out that Great Britain even had a baseball team and that they were going to play in this type of baseball tournament. So really, words just can’t explain the feeling. I’m totally excited, totally overwhelmed that they would even think of me in a situation like this, so it’s a really good feeling, really great.”
Thomas said playing in the event possibly opens pro doors for him.
“Just being on the roster alone, I think any team that I approach, they’ll definitely take me a little more seriously,” said Thomas, who would become the BVI’s first player in the World Baseball Classic.“But if I could perform at a high level with any opportunity I’m given with playing time, that would definitely open doors and give teams a better insight of what I can do at a high level of playing.”
Thomas said after playing in the European Championships last week, rosters had been all set and announced, but a roster spot opened. Before the European Championships, Great Britain baseball officials had no idea who he was and his level of play.
“I was back in Germany and they sent an email saying they were going to book a flight and they booked a flight to New York early on Wednesday morning for the World Baseball Classic qualifier,” he said. “If we win, we’ll then move on to the World Baseball Classic in March 2017.”
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