WEST SACRAMENTO – There was a running joke around the Athletics clubhouse as of late that “Tommy Tanks,” the nickname Tommy White earned during a prolific display of power during his college career, was relegated to “Tommy Singles.”
It has been a bit of an ironic start to his Major League career. Since White got called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on July 17, 22 of his first 24 hits over his first 25 games with the A’s had been singles. The other two were a pair of doubles. Not exactly Tanks-like for the A’s No. 10 prospect.
During Sunday’s 5-2 A’s victory over the Rangers at Sutter Health Park, however, White finally got a hold of one. Leading off the bottom of the eighth against reliever Peyton Gray, White unloaded on a 2-0 fastball and sent it well beyond the center-field wall onto the berm for a Statcast-projected 413-foot solo home run, the first of his big league career.
White’s first Major League “tank” capped what was the A’s first series victory at Sutter Health Park since April 28-30 against the Royals, snapping a streak of six consecutive home series losses.