A Dodger named Cody had a multi-home run game on Friday afternoon but it wasn’t Cody Bellinger and it wasn’t your typical multi-home run game.

Allow me to explain.

It all started on Thursday evening at Dow Diamond in Midland Michigan when Dodgers outfield prospect Cody Thomas slugged a solo home run in the second inning for the franchise’s Low Single-A affiliate Great Lakes Loons off of South Bend Cubs (Cubs) left-hander Manuel Rondon. It was Thomas’ 11th home run of the season and it gave the Loons an early 1-0 lead. That lead was short-lived, however, when the Cubs tied the game in the top of the third inning on a solo home run by Cubs shortstop Zack Short.

As the game proceeded, the skies over Dow Diamond darkened and eventually opened up with heavy rain, lightning and thunder in the bottom of the seventh inning, forcing play to be suspended until Friday afternoon when it became obvious that this wasn’t just a quick passing summer storm.

When play resumed on Friday, the Cubs took a 3-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning. However, the Loons answered right back with three runs in the bottom of the inning, including a two run home run by (wait for it) Cody Thomas off of Cubs right-hander Chad Hockin to tie the game 3-3. With two outs – still in the bottom of the eighth – Loons shortstop Brendon Davis singled and subsequently advanced to third base on an errant pickoff attempt. This was followed by an RBI double off the bat of Loons catcher Keibert Ruiz to drive in Davis for what would prove to be the game-winning run.

Loons outfielder Cody Thomas could very well be the first Loons player to have a single multi-home run game over a two day period. (Photo courtesy of Great Lakes Loons)

Although Cody Thomas’ multi-home run game is different than any of those by his Dodgers namesake and is quite possibly the Loons first-ever two-day multi-home run game, it still goes in the books as a single multi-home run game. It was also the second multi-home run game of the season for the Loons, with the first coming on April 11 by Carlos Rincon.

But wait, there’s more!

In the regularly scheduled game on Friday evening, Thomas came up to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning with the score once again tied 3-3. The 22-year-old Colleyville, Texas native and Dodgers 2016 13th-round draft pick out of the University of Oklahoma absolutely crushed a pitch off of Cubs right-hander Jared Cheek over the right-center field wall to give the Loons the 4-3 walk-off win and Thomas his 13th home run of the season and third in two games – even if it did take an extra day to do so.

For those unfamiliar with Cody Thomas, his story is a rather interesting one.

Prior to being drafted by the Dodgers in 2016, Thomas had been selected by the New York Yankees in the 30th round of the 2013 Draft out of Colleyville Heritage High School in his hometown of Colleyville, Texas. He chose not to sign with the Yankees and instead committed to playing football and baseball at the University of Oklahoma. The 6’-4” / 211-pound Thomas was initially more interested in becoming the starting quarterback with the Sooners than he was in playing baseball. As such, he devoted most of his time to football and in 2014 played in only 14 games with the baseball team, collecting only one hit in his 12 total at bats.

Thomas played football exclusively in 2015 but was disappointed that he could not get past the role of backup quarterback, a role he was not satisfied to keep playing.

Although his football aspirations had limited his baseball activities, he eventually abandoned football, worked his way onto the 2016 Oklahoma baseball team and was rewarded when he was drafted by the Dodgers last June.

On July 6, 2016 Thomas debuted with the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer Rookie League. He homered in each of his first three games with the Raptors. And although he cooled off in the second half of the season, he finished with an impressive slash-line of .276 / .360 / .576 for an OPS of .936 in the 52 games in which he appeared. He also hit 16 home runs along the way which tied him for second most in the league.

Thomas began the 2017 season with Great Lakes Loons and currently owns a slash-line of .242 / .303 / .467 for an OPS of .769. And while these may not be earth-shattering numbers, they include 11 doubles, two triples and 34 RBIs, to go along with his (now) 13 home runs. And even though Thomas suffered through April with a .190 batting average and a .273 OBP, he heated up by posting a .306 batting average and .358 OBP in June, while driving in 15 runs. With his 13 home runs on the season, Thomas is now only two behind Emmanuel Tapis of the Lake County Captains (Indians) for the Midwest League lead.

And now you know – the rest of the story.

Good day.