George Thomas (baseball)

George Thomas
George Thomas
	Thomas in 1966
	Outfielder
	Born: November 29, 1937 (age 86); Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
	Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
	September 11, 1957, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
	September 6, 1971, for the Minnesota Twins
MLB statistics
Batting average	.255
Home runs	46
Runs batted in	202
Teams
	Detroit Tigers (1957–1958, 1961); Los Angeles Angels (1961–1963); Detroit Tigers (1963–1965); Boston Red Sox (1966–1971); Minnesota Twins (1971);

George Edward Thomas Jr. (born November 29, 1937) is a retired American

Minneapolis

threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg).

Playing career

Thomas signed a $25,000

farm system, rapidly rising from Class B to Triple-A

.

Thomas made the

utilityman Frank Kostro. He played sparingly for Detroit, mostly spelling veteran Bill Bruton in center field

for the rest of 1963.

Splitting the Tigers' center-field job with Bruton and Don Demeter in 1964, Thomas reached a personal best in hits (88) and batted a career-high .286. But his playing time diminished in 1965, his average sank to .213, and on October 4 he was traded to the Red Sox with second baseman George Smith and a player to be named later (catcher Jackie Moore) for pitcher Bill Monbouquette. Thomas platooned in center field with the left-handed Jim Gosger during the 1966 season's early weeks, but his average dipped below .200 on May 17, Demeter was acquired from the Tigers to play center field in June, and Thomas reverted to a backup role. A strong September lifted his average to .237, but his MLB career as a starting player was over. He appeared in all or parts of five more MLB seasons, but never started more than 15 games.

However, Thomas was a utility man and pinch hitter on the

right field. St. Louis won the series in seven games. He then spent most of 1968

in Triple-A, but after his recall to the Red Sox in September, he got into three more full seasons in the Majors from 1969 to 1971. He was briefly listed as a coach for the Red Sox in 1969 and 1970 before returning to active status, and finished his career with his hometown Twins after Boston released him, June 28, 1971.

In his 685-game big-league career, Thomas collected 430 hits, including 71 doubles, nine triples and 46 home runs. He batted .255.

College coach

After drawing his release from the Twins on October 27, 1971, Thomas—who had also attended

win–loss record over three seasons. His last team won a Big Ten Conference divisional championship and a berth in the 1981 NCAA Division I baseball tournament

.

References

External links

Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
George Thomas at SABR (Baseball Biography Project)
George Thomas at Baseball Almanac
George Thomas at George Thomas Baseball Biography - Baseballbiography.com

Preceded by Al Lakeman	Bullpen Coach 1969	Succeeded by Doug Camilli

[1] Retrosheet box score, 1957-9-11 (2)

[2] Retrosheet box score, 1963-7-29