PHOENIX — Many mornings Landon Thome can be found in the batting cage in his Chicago-area backyard, his father, Jim, a few feet away with a baseball in hand.
Jim, a Hall of Famer and five-time All-Star, throws to Landon. They talk about hitting. They practice soft toss, flips, tee work. They watch MLB Network and clips from games as they go. Landon asks questions. Jim listens, then offers advice.
“He’s a Hall of Famer and played for 22 years,” Landon said, “so having that knowledge in my back pocket, I like to say, (with him) as my hitting coach, is pretty awesome.”
Now Landon, 18, looks to build his own big-league legacy as a likely early-round selection in this weekend’s MLB Draft. It comes after a lifetime around the sport — first as a child watching his father’s big-league games and swinging at tennis balls in the backyard to a high school graduate and baseball state champion as a shortstop at Nazareth Academy (Ill.) The ultimate goal, Landon said, is to “be a major leaguer as long as I can.”
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Landon, who is committed to Florida State, is rated 33rd in The Athletic’s top-100 ranking of draft prospects. He is viewed as a player who could grow into 25-homer power, Keith Law wrote, and who hits best with his arms extended — which can sometimes lead him to struggle when pitched in the upper-third of the zone.
When Landon needed to work through problems like that, he could turn to Jim for help.
There was little doubt in Jim’s mind that he would be his son’s hitting coach. That is what fathers do, he said: throw batting practice to their sons and give advice. Of course, as an MLB legend who hit 612 home runs while playing for six big-league teams, his perspective is different from that of most fathers.
So when Landon would ask questions about how he was being pitched or bring up how he was feeling in the box, Jim was happy to provide feedback.
Said Landon: “He sees such little things in the game that most other dads can’t see.”
There are technical skills Jim is impressed by, such as Landon’s improvement at hitting breaking balls in certain areas and adjusting when he expects a fastball over a certain part of the plate. But what Jim appreciates the most about his son’s game is the joy he brings: his smile on the playing field, his desire to improve, his love of base running, his study of the game.
Landon was 4 years old when his father finished playing, so he doesn’t remember much of Jim’s career. But he grew up watching Jim’s highlights and traveled to Cooperstown, N.Y., for his father’s induction in 2018. There he and his sister, Lila, wandered among the greats, talking with Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr. and other Hall of Famers.
Jim, 55, remembered watching those interactions unfold alongside his wife, Andrea.
“We look at each other,” Jim said, “and we go, ‘This is so special.’”
Landon, Lila and wife Andrea Thome joined Jim as he received a phone call in 2018 informing him he had been elected to the Hall of Fame. (Ron Vesely / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The brotherhood of players, past and present, has constantly been part of Landon’s life. He works out alongside current players such as Steven Kwan, Jake Cronenworth and Alex Bregman at Bracey Performance in Chicago. Landon started going there as a freshman, focusing on increasing his speed and explosiveness. Founder Kyle Bracey invited Landon to train alongside the major leaguers when he was a junior. Being around these players and seeing their intensity while training, Landon said, has made him want to “level up.”
“Look at their games,” Jim said of Landon’s mentors. “They play the game hard, and they’re wonderful people. That’s what you wish for your son.”
Although Landon does not remember much of his father’s playing career, he’s spent time observing and trying to embody the traits that have long defined Jim.
“(He treats people) with respect and kindness,” Landon said, “everyone that he meets. No matter who they are.”
Jim, who coached Landon at Nazareth, watched as his son did the same. Landon built relationships with the janitors and grounds crew, always stopping to chat. It is something Jim strived to do as a big leaguer, he said, saying hello to the people he saw each day and embracing the “gift” of friendship through baseball.
“Just watching him do those little things has been a joy, really, as a father,” Jim said. “You feel very proud.”
Jim Thome walks to the infield with his son, Landon, during his introduction into Cleveland’s Hall of Fame in 2016. (Phil Long / Associated Press)
If father and son have a favorite baseball moment together, it might be their embrace on the field after Nazareth Academy won the state championship in Joliet, Ill., in 2023. But there has been so much happiness in the little moments — working during the brutal Midwestern winters, practices at Nazareth, mornings in the backyard batting cage.
Whatever Landon chooses — college or a professional career — it will mean leaving home. There won’t be daily cage sessions. But:
“No matter if you’re 40, 50, 60 years old,” Jim said, “you’re always going to have that bond that this game gives father and son. It’s just so special.”