Watch: White Sox Staffer Tries and Fails to Maintain Poker Face After Son’s Homer

Finally, Alek got his dad to crack, but just barely.

Diamondbacks prospect Alek Thomas got a chance to play against some major-league competition on Wednesday and do so in front of his dad, Allen, who is in charge of conditioning for the White Sox.  

In the ninth inning, Thomas crushed a home run off of Chicago starter Lucas Giolito and could not have been more thrilled. After circling the bases, he tried to get his father’s attention but Allen refused to acknowledge Alek. Finally, Alek got his dad to crack, but just barely. 

You can understand why the elder Thomas would be conflicted. On the one hand, his son just took a big league pitcher deep. On the other hand, part of his job is to make Giolito a better pitcher after he posted an ERA above six last season. Allen was a little more loving on Twitter later, though.

The dinger is even more impressive when you realize that Thomas is only 18. The D-Backs took him in the second round of last year’s draft and he’s only played 56 games of pro ball so far. You know his dad is proud he was already able to crush a homer against an actual MLB pitcher.