By Rich Herles
The Legends roster is filled with players from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and the United States. Of all of these players, there is only one Native American here playing ‘America’s Game’ -Tommy Whiteman. Whiteman belongs to an exclusive group of one, being the first player from the Crow Nation to play professional baseball. His father made sure that Tommy kept in touch with his heritage, by having him spend a month each summer in Montana visiting his grandparents on the Crow reservation at the site of the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Last season and again this season, the Astros granted Tommy a weekend leave of absence so that he could return to the reservation to be “honored”. “One of my cousins made me an ‘honor sign’. It was all about me. It’s a really big thing and it makes you feel really good, because everybody treats you awesome”, according to Whiteman. “The weekend is called a ‘getaway’ and you give things to your clan uncle, friends and relatives who are honoring you.” The getaway is attended not only by Whiteman’s friends and family, but also thousands of other members of the Crow Nation.
It may seem a little strange to have a Native American named Whiteman, but Tommy’s last name would have been “Charges Plenty Whiteman” had his grandfather not changed it and Tommy’s given name is “Owner of Outstanding Horses”. Whiteman does not own any horses, but who knows that could change, if he remains around Lexington: the Thoroughbred Capital of the World. Although he doesn’t bring his native customs with him to the ballpark, he does have a reminder of his heritage with him in the dug out. On the end of his bat is written “absalaga” which means “Crow” in the native Crow language.
The pride and drive that Tommy gets from his heritage was evident by the numbers that he put up last season. In his first full season, he lit up the South Atlantic League with a league leading slugging percentage of .566 and a batting average of .319, which was second in the league. His 18 home runs and 57 RBIs surprised even Tommy. “Even after my slow start last year, I always knew I could hit, but the main thing that I was surprised at was my power numbers.” The shining Astor star did so well that he earned himself a brief trip to the Houston’s Double A affiliate at Round Rock. There in four games he had four hits, one of which was a home run. Whiteman still holds the Legend’s team batting streak record of hitting successfully in 16 straight games. Some of the honors that were bestowed on him last season include being named the “SAL Player of the Week” (twice) and chosen to the South Atlantic League Post Season All-Star Team. The crafty shortstop finished second among all of the Astros minor league teams in triples with nine and a .319 batting average.
Legend’s Manager J. J. Cannon’s assessment of his shortstop shows just how high the organizations are impressed with this young man from Oklahoma. “Thomas Whiteman, who was here last year, he’s one of the top prospects of our team and the league. This kid has tremendous ability. He has fantastic hands and great range and knows how to play his position well. There are people who are just slow starters. It’s not how you start, but how you finish and he’s just one of those guys. Maybe, he’ll figure out how to start from the beginning to the end. Then he’ll be an all-star player. There’s no doubting my mind that he’s going to just get better.”
The beginning of the 2002 season the Astros assigned Whiteman to Round Rock, but again his slow start and moves in the upper levels of the organization had him reassigned to Lexington. At Round Rock, Tommy only batted .179 in 15 games. Shortly after he arrived in Lexington, he began to find his bat again and it wasn’t long before he was climbing toward the top batters in the SAL. In the last twelve games, he had a batting average of .500 and with four home runs and eleven RBIs.
Growing up playing shortstop with boyhood idols like Ozzie Smith and Barry Larkin, it is no wonder that many people have described Tommy Whiteman as a young Cal Ripken, Jr. and Baseball America has him ranked in the top ten prospects in the Astros organization. They praised Tommy saying that, “he shows all five tools at shortstop. He hits the ball where it is pitched, has gap power and average speed. He’s fluid at shortstop, gets to the balls he should and has enough arm strength.”
Not only has Tommy Whiteman showed himself to be an outstanding Native American player, but a rising star in the Astros organization and all of baseball who is destined to achieving his dreams of playing in the major league.
Remember keep your eye on the ball and don’t lose sight of your goals!
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June 6, 2002 –Profiles In Sports. com
Copyright © 2002 by Richard G. Herles
Any reprinting of this article without written permission is prohibited. (Reprinting via email is authorized by Rich Herles) ************************************************************************************************
