Friday, July 8, 2005 | 9:58 a.m.
There was a time when Brad Thompson didn't want to consider what impact The Streak would have on his baseball career.
"I haven't even thought about it," Thompson said last May. "I'm way ahead of schedule now, anyway. I haven't thought about a timetable."
He barely had time to. Weeks after he pitched 57 scoreless innings for Double-A Tennessee Smokies, Thompson was called up to Triple-A. Despite an injury-plagued second half of 2004 and a 3.29 ERA in 13 2/3 innings at Triple-A this year, Thompson was called up to the St. Louis Cardinals.
And with 14 months between The Streak and now, Thompson can feel a little more confident thinking about the impact it had on his career.
"It's something that really gave me an opportunity," he said. "It got my name out with the Cardinals, and it got me an invite to go to the big league's spring training this year."
Thompson, a Cimarron-Memorial graduate who helped the Spartans to the 2000 American Legion state title, went from August 21, 2003 in Single-A to May 19, 2004 without giving up a single earned run. He came up just short of the all-time record of 59 innings, set in 1907 by Birmingham's Irvin Wilhelm and again in 1988 by Los Angeles' Orel Hersheiser.
"I wasn't big on the radar before then," he said. "It was something that definitely helped me get here."
But Thompson, who barely pitched in high school and was a reliever through most of his development on the mound, began feeling the pains of pitching long stretches early on at Triple-A Memphis.
He pitched just 14 2/3 innings for the Redbirds before going on the disabled list on June 24. An internal impingement shelved him for the year, and in August he began rehabilitation in Las Vegas.
Now, Thompson works out 20 minutes a day to make sure his arm stays strong and his shoulder keeps its range.
His muscles survived an initial test in those 13 innings at Triple-A this year, but it was his nerves that got the real challenge on May 8.
In front of a crowd of 46,444 at Busch Stadium, Thompson made his major league debut, entering a game against San Diego in the seventh inning, the Cardinals already leading 13-4.
"It was overwhelming," Thompson said. "It was pretty intense, and it was fun to get it over with. I've been getting better since then."
Thompson got a three-inning save, giving up two hits -- including a solo home run -- while walking one and striking out two.
Four days later, his family came out to St. Louis to see him pitch two hitless innings against the Dodgers in a 10-3 Cardinals win as manager Tony LaRussa eased the rookie into major league action.
Thompson was truly thrown into the fire on a Saturday night in Queens, relieving a struggling Mark Mulder with the Cardinals and Mets tied at 5 and Kaz Matsui on third with no outs.
He allowed two singles and an RBI from his first two batters -- then caught one of them trying to steal second, fouled out Miguel Cairo and grounded out Carlos Beltran to get the Cardinals out of the jam in what turned out to be a 7-6 St. Louis win.
"That was the most intense outing so far," he said.
Since that game at Shea Stadium, Thompson has allowed runs in only three other games, nearly exclusively pitching middle relief.
"The nice thing is, coming out of the bullpen now, the preparation isn't too much. You don't have too much time to think about anything. For me I've just got to make sure I go in there and throw the first strike. Getting behind these hitters ... if you're down 2-0 you have to throw a fastball and then you're in trouble."
In 18 games with St. Louis this year, Thompson has pitched 23 2/3 innings, giving up 17 hits and seven earned runs for a 2.66 ERA. That's fourth-best amongst rookie pitchers who have thrown 20 or more innings this year.
"Everybody in the bullpen's been great with me," he said. "Ray King's talking to me all the time, he helps me out quite a bit. Cal Eldred's a guy that's been around, he talks about the mental aspects of the game. They've all been great, really treating me like I'm definitely going to be part of the team."
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