Today, Thompson is a 16-year-old pitching phenom getting a comprehensive evaluation from one of the top pitching gurus in America, USC's Tom House.
"I just want to find out what I do wrong. I want to have perfect mechanics," said Thompson to the assembled media at Dedeaux Field.
The kid held court like a seasoned pro. With cameras flashing and the record light on, he zipped fastballs right to the glove.Â
He even stood proudly as House's pitching technicians had him strip down to his underwear, so they could cover him with motion sensor balls.
"Bunch of TV cameras, I'm naked basically," he said, prepping to tell the story to his boys back in Pembroke Pines, Florida. "I'm in my boxers throwing in front of a bunch of cameras and news reporters. It was great!"
Thompson takes it all in stride. He has no issues with how his body looks, but he is in a constant battle with how it acts.
David Thompson suffers from Common Variable Immune Deficiency. Basically, he's susceptible to everything around him.
"He doesn't fight off things like normal kids," said his mother Kay Thompson.Â
Even more, David's kidneys leak citrates, which has the effect of poisoning his insides because his internal chemical balance is thrown off.Â
David wants to be a Hall of Fame pitcher, but his body fights him every step of the way.
He can no longer hit because vitamin deficiencies led to three stress fractures in his spine, so he pitches with a back brace. He has to constantly get his vaccinations updated because he can't hold the immunity.Â
He does not produce the necessary antibodies to fight off disease, which would relegate less courageous people to the safety of a sterile bubble, literally in some cases.
David prefers the sanctity of a packed stadium and the community of a team bus ride.
When the "Make-A-Wish Foundation" asked him what his heart desired, he thought only about getting better for his future. His baseball future.
He watched Tom House's tapes back in Florida, where his high school team won the 6-A state championship, and knew the Trojans pitching coach could help make him a better player.
Thompson pulled up to Dedeaux Field in a stretch limo and immediately went to work. After taking him through a stretching routine, House watched closely as young David fired away from the rubber.
The pitching coach came expecting a project, but he ended up seeing a prospect.Â
"That's a pretty good little delivery everybody," he announced to the crowd.   Â
Then, House's team outfitted Thompson for a computer-generated three-dimensional motion analysis to maximize his performance through proper biomechanics.
As House explains, the human eye sees 32 frames per second, but these cameras capture between 1/250th and 1/1000th of a second. For the mathematically challenged, the human eye is just guessing, while the cameras don't lie.
USC's pitching coach made slight, but important improvements to Thompson's mechanics. He moved him over on the rubber to line him up better with his target. He asked him to focus on throwing the top half of the ball on his curve and pointing his leg at the shortstop in his wind-up.Â
House treated young David like the pitcher that he is not the patient he is fighting off.
When Thompson was first diagnosed, the doctor recommended that the family give up.
"David never gives up...ever," said his mother. "You get a road block; David goes around it."
For the time being, his body chemistry is in balance, which means he's off the sidelines. After missing three months with a bone bruise on his elbow, he pitched four perfect innings in his first game back.
The Thompson's are not afraid to talk about the future and David has his sights set on a professional baseball career.
"With a disease like this, it's unpredictable, anything can happen," Kay said. "But there's no reason he can't."
For more information on the "Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles," please call (800) 322-9474 or visit www.wishla.org.
