Luther Baxter "Bud" Thomas (September 9, 1910 – May 20, 2001), 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 professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

. 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) for the Washington Senators,

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

, and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Biography

He was born in

Faber, Virginia Faber is an unincorporated community in Nelson County, Virginia, United States. It is the location of the Monroe Institute. Faber was one of the communities mentioned in several episodes of the television series, ''The Waltons ''The Waltons ...

and died in North Garden, Virginia. On April 23, 1939, Thomas surrendered the first major League home run ever hit by Red Sox legend

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

. Thomas pitched to

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

twice, striking him out the second time. Although posting only a .120

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 i ...

(18-for-150) in 143 games, Thomas was good defensively. He recorded a .984

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

with only two errors in 122

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

in 526

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning ...

References

External links

1910 births 2001 deaths People from Statesboro, Georgia Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Virginia Detroit Tigers players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Philadelphia Athletics players People from Nelson County, Virginia Albany Senators players Atlanta Crackers players Beaumont Exporters players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Wheeling Stogies players Williamsport Grays players Youngstown Buckeyes players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1910s-stub