Frederick Harvey "Tommy" Thomas (December 19, 1892 – January 15, 1986) was an American

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 ...

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 ...

. He 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) from 1918 to 1920 for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

, Philadelphia Athletics, and Washington Senators. In 1916, Thomas was acquired by the

with Sam Jones from the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

in exchange for

Tris Speaker Tristram Edgar Speaker (April 4, 1888 – December 8, 1958), nicknamed "the Gray Eagle", was an American professional baseball player. Considered one of the greatest players in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), he compiled a career ba ...

. He entered the majors in 1918, hitting .257 in 44 games, and was a member of the World Champions Red Sox in the 1918 Series. Before the 1919 season, he was dealt to the Philadelphia Athletics and posted career-highs in games (124), hits (96), runs (42) and stolen bases (12), while hitting .212. He divided his playing time with the Athletics and Washington Senators in 1920, his last major league season. In a three-year career, Thomas was a .225 hitter (193-for-859) with four

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 45 RBI in 247 games, including 88 runs, 19 doubles, 14 triples, and 24 stolen bases. He also hit .118 in six Series games (2-for-17). Thomas died at the age of 93 in

Rice Lake, Wisconsin Rice Lake is a city in Barron County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 9,040. The city is located mostly within the Town of Rice Lake. History Rice Lake was named in 1870 after nearby Rice Lak ...

. He was the last surviving member of the 1918 World Champion Boston Red Sox. He has been credited for starting the tradition of standing during playing of the

National Anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

at baseball games, at the 1918 Series.

References

External links

Baseball Reference
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Fred Boston Red Sox players Philadelphia Athletics players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Major League Baseball third basemen American military personnel of World War I Baseball players from Wisconsin Military personnel from Wisconsin People from Rice Lake, Wisconsin 1892 births 1986 deaths Green Bay Bays players Omaha Rourkes players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Providence Grays (minor league) players Reading Marines players Reading Aces players Reading Keystones players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players