Frank Joseph Thomas (born June 11, 1929) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (–), Cincinnati Reds (), Chicago Cubs (1960–1961, 1966), Milwaukee Braves (1961, 1965),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

(–), Philadelphia Phillies (1964–1965) and Houston Astros (1965). He batted and threw right-handed and was listed as tall and . Born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

and of Lithuanian descent, he attended high school at

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School is a Catholic separate school in Mississauga, Ontario. It is part of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and is affiliated with the parish of St. John of the Cross. The Trustee is Brea Corbet ...

of Mississauga, Ontario. As a teenager he attended a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...

, and he studied for the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priesthood for 4 years before entering pro baseball.

Career

Thomas signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent in 1947. He debuted with the Pirates in 1951. With the Pirates, he made three All-Star Games, and finished fourth in the voting for Most Valuable Player in 1958, when he batted .281, finished second in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

Ernie Banks Ernest Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between ...

with 35

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, and had 109 RBIs. Thomas appeared on the cover of the July 28, 1958 issue of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

''. He also won his only NL Player of the Month award in June, batting .275 with 9 home runs and 29 RBI. On August 16, 1958, Thomas hit three home runs in a 13-4 rout of the Cincinnati Reds. In 1959, he was traded by the Pirates with Whammy Douglas,

Jim Pendleton James Edward Pendleton (January 7, 1924 — March 20, 1996) was an American professional baseball player, an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1953 and 1962. He played for the Milwaukee Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds ...

and John Powers to the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

for

Smoky Burgess Forrest Harrill "Smoky" Burgess (February 6, 1927 – September 15, 1991) was an American professional baseball catcher, pinch hitter, coach, and scout, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to . A nine-time All-Star, Burgess became kno ...

Harvey Haddix Harvey Haddix, Jr. (September 18, 1925 – January 8, 1994) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher and pitching coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1952–1956), Philadelphia Phillies ...

and

Don Hoak Donald Albert Hoak (February 5, 1928 – October 9, 1969), nicknamed "Tiger", was an American professional baseball third baseman and coach. He played eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–) for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, ...

. Due to a shattered nerve in the thumb of his right hand, Thomas home run output fell from 35 to 12 in 1959. Following the season, he was traded by the Redlegs to the Chicago Cubs for Bill Henry, Lou Jackson and Lee Walls. In 1961, he was traded by Cubs to the Milwaukee Braves for Mel Roach. Thomas was traded by the Braves with a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

(

Rick Herrscher Richard Franklin Herrscher (born November 3, 1936) is an American former professional baseball infielder who appeared in 35 Major League Baseball games for the 1962 New York Mets. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he threw and batted right-handed an ...

) to the

for a player to be named later (

Gus Bell David Russell "Gus" Bell Jr. (November 15, 1928 – May 7, 1995) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1950 through 1964, who played with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Milwaukee Braves. He batted lef ...

) and cash. Despite the team's historically poor inaugural season, Thomas led the expansion Mets with 34 home runs and 94 RBIs. His home run mark was a Mets' team record until broken by Dave Kingman in 1975. In 1964, Thomas was traded by the New York Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for

Wayne Graham Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Antho ...

Gary Kroll Gary Melvin Kroll (born July 8, 1941) is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), appearing in 71 games over all or parts of four seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies (), New Y ...

and cash. He was purchased by the Houston Astros from the Phillies in July 1965 shortly after hitting Richie Allen with a bat, but was traded to Braves for a

(Mickey Sinnerud) in September 1965. In an hour-long interview aired December 15, 2009, on the MLB Network's Studio 42 with Bob Costas, Allen asserted that he and Thomas had become good friends. On April 5, 1966, Thomas was released by the Braves. He signed with the Cubs on May 14, 1966, and after recording five plate appearances without a hit, he was released on June 4, 1966. In a 16-season career, Thomas posted a .266

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 286

s and 962 RBIs in 1766 games. He was larger than the average player of his time, and known for his opinionated nature. One of his nicknames as a player was "The Big Donkey."

Personal life

Thomas and his wife, Dolores Wozniak, were married in 1951 and had eight children before her death in 2012. He has 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He suffered a fall in 2021 which required a hospital stay. Despite the fall, Thomas was well enough to attend the Mets'

Old Timers' Day Old-Timers' Day (or Old-Timers' Game) refers to a tradition in Major League Baseball where a team devotes the early afternoon preceding a weekend game to honor retired players who played for the organization during their careers. The retired play ...

in August 2022, albeit in a wheelchair.

Career

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading

External links