White Sox: Trayce Thompson hopes trip home is like any other

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — He had the chance to sleep in his own bed in season for the first time in six years. The stands at Angel Stadium will be loaded with friends and family. And he and his brother certainly intend to make a late night trip to In-N-Out.

But beyond those unfamiliar factors, everything else is the same for Trayce Thompson, who started and batted fifth in his first “home” game on Monday night. Thompson, who starred at nearby Rancho Santa Margarita High, intends to do everything he can to make the trip like any other even if it isn’t.

“My family gets it,” Thompson said. “I feel like I’m very fortunate. They understand.

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“Everyone that knows me, especially my family, they know that it’s baseball over everything else.

“The regimen’s pretty easy for me.

“I’m just happy to come home for a little break and hopefully take advantage of being able to play here and have some good games.”

Thompson may have a better chance of handling the situation thanks to his famous family. Both of his brothers play professional basketball with Klay making Los Angeles trips all the time to play both the Lakers and the Clippers for the Golden State Warriors.

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But even that doesn’t guarantee all will go according to plan, manager Robin Ventura said.

“Sometimes it’s harder than other times because you want to do well, you get ticket requests, people calling from all over,” Ventura said. “I think his background of how he grew up, with his brother, he gets that part of it. But it’s not going to stop him from wanting to do well. But he can limit the distractions probably better than other people of people pulling at you because he’s probably seen it and has experience with it, just not himself but within his family.”

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