October 23, 1993.

For every baseball fan outside of Philadelphia it was just another Saturday night, but for those residing in the City of Brotherly Love, it was the day when one of the most miraculous seasons in baseball history came to a screeching halt.

As Toronto Blue Jay Joe Carter sent a 2-2 pitch from Phillies closer Mitch Williams over the left field fence during Game Six of the World Series, the dreams of championship-starved baseball fans in Philadelphia died forever.

But for State College Spikes catcher Scott Thomas, the loss was a little more personal. His father, Lee Thomas, was the architect of that 1993 Phillies team.

So as the eight-year-old Thomas sat in a Skybox in Toronto on that fateful night, he watched his father's five years of work end with a swing of the bat.

After Carter hit the shot heard up-and-down Broad Street, Thomas' dad leaned into his mom and calmly said, "Let's go."

But even 13 years later, Thomas -- like most Philadelphians -- can't watch the events that transpired on that cool evening in late October.

"Every time [the home run] comes on ESPN Classic, I can't watch because it makes me sick," Thomas said. "But you can't hate [Carter] for hitting the game-winning home run."

Even though his father's best season as a general manager didn't end like Thomas would've liked it, he still was able to get some valuable lessons out of his father's nine seasons in Philadelphia. He used his education in the game of baseball to allow him the chance to one day play on the fields he patrolled as a child.

But things didn't go as smoothly as he hoped.

Early on in his career at Missouri Baptist University, Thomas was often injured -- the most serious being a knee injury that ended his freshman season -- and thought his career might be over. But after rehabbing the knee, Thomas was finally healthy and ready to become a star for the scouts.

But that was difficult to do at MBU --a small school located in St. Louis -- which due to its enrollment size, the school's athletic teams competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, or the NAIA.

The NAIA is to the NCAA like what the NBA developmental league is to the NBA. So for Thomas to get noticed, he had to really stand out.

He did so by hitting .451 during his sophomore season and was named American Midwest Conference Newcomer of the Year, which he translated into a 38th-round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2006 draft. He was one of only 24 NAIA players taken in the 50-round MLB draft.

But the difference in competition between NCAA and NAIA -- especially pitching-wise -- is showing in Thomas's batting average, which currently stands at .160. But, luckily for Thomas, he has a couple of wise sages to go to for baseball advice when times get tough.

Former Phillies players Darren Daulton and Lenny Dykstra.

During his dad's tenure with the Phillies, he met two of his biggest baseball mentors: A catcher in Daulton and a center fielder in Dykstra. They taught him everything from how to squat properly to how to swing as a left-handed hitter.

Thomas says he still speaks to them every-so-often now that he's a professional, but he does admit that he didn't take some of the advice that the Phillies charismatic leadoff hitter dished out.

"Lenny, he's was a little out of whack for me," he said. "But they were all good guys, and I owe a lot of people a lot of thank you's for helping me get to where I am today."

Despite enjoying the experience of being a professional baseball player so far, Thomas knows that struggling at this level could mean a one-way ticket back to Town & Country, Missouri.

This is where he says that his experience with his father pays off.

As the son of a general manager, he was witness to how difficult some of the decisions in the sport are, so Thomas has a little less of an anti-management stance than some players in the game. His knowledge of the inner workings of baseball allows him not to be flustered when he sees teammates like Adam Morris and Charles Carter given their release because he knows it is just part of the game.

"I used to sit and listen to him talk about trades and players," Thomas said. "I learned to not have any enemies in this game because that was what helped my father hook on with the Red Sox after being fired from the Phillies."

But even as he begins a career of his own, Thomas can't help but look back at his time in Philadelphia and feel lucky that he father gave him the opportunity to grow up in that environment.

Throughout his father's years with the Phillies, Thomas was treated like a part of the team. This included his own locker and jersey, which is something he hopes to do again, but without his father's help this time.

Yet, he did like being a quasi-major leaguer.

"I remember being able to do whatever I wanted," he said. "Even taking batting practice. I think I've taken BP in every National League city."

He recalls a time when he was paid $100 -- by former Phillies and current Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling -- to collect the balls during batting practice when it was Schilling's turn.

Thomas, now 21, has on-the-field memories that any child who loves baseball would dream of having. But he says it was the more intimate off-the-field moments that he will carry with him forever.

Like when former Phillies infielder Greg Jefferies hit him in the face with a shaving cream pie, or the hours he would spend playing video games in current Cardinals player Scott Rolen's hotel room, and the plethora of practical jokes pulled on him by other past Phillies.

Some of Thomas's more personal memories occurred during his time in southeastern Pennsylvania. The 1996 All-Star Game stands out because he had the honor of being the bat boy during the game. He also watched Milt Thompson steal a grand slam away from the San Diego Padres' Fred McGriff from the visitor's dugout in Jack Murphy Stadium. The one closest to his heart was Mariano Duncan's game-winning grand slam home run on Mother's Day.

For a fan, these situations would seem like once-and-a-lifetime things, but for Thomas -- like his teammate A.J. Van Slyke -- growing up around baseball was normal to him and have made him who is today.

"The years we were in Philadelphia, it was the best time of my life," he said. "Being in that clubhouse everyday. Getting to go on the road and travel, and staying in the best hotels that the major league players stayed at. You couldn't ask for anything more as a child."