Ira Felix Thomas (January 22, 1881 – October 11, 1958) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He played all or part of ten seasons of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, all in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

, with the

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one ...

(1906–07),

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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

(1908), and

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, they became the Oakland ...

(1909–15), primarily as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Thomas was born in

Ballston Spa, New York Ballston Spa is a village and the county seat of Saratoga County, New York, United States, located southwest of Saratoga Springs. It is part of the Capital Region. The population of the village, named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregational ...

, and began his playing career in the minor

Connecticut League The Connecticut League, also known as the Connecticut State League, was a professional baseball association of teams in the state of Connecticut. The league was a Minor League Baseball, minor league for most of its existence. It began as offshoot o ...

in 1902. After playing two seasons with the Highlanders in the major leagues, Thomas moved to the Tigers in 1908 and served as backup catcher to

Boss Schmidt Charles "Boss" Schmidt (September 12, 1880 – November 14, 1932) was an American baseball catcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB) A native of Arkansas, Schmidt played professional baseball from 1901 to 1926, including si ...

. In Game 1 of the

1908 World Series The 1908 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1908 season. The fifth edition of the World Series, it matched the defending National League champion Chicago Cubs against the American League champion Detroit Ti ...

, he

pinch hit In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Am ...

for

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Charley O'Leary in the ninth inning and singled for the first pinch

base hit In baseball statistics, a hit (denoted by H), also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches or passes first base after hitting the ball into fair territory with neither the benefit of an error nor a fielder's c ...

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

play

He played six seasons to finish his career with the Athletics. He was the team captain and shared equal catching duty with Jack Lapp as the Athletics won consecutive World Series in 1910 and 1911. The team also won an

American League pennant Every Major League Baseball (MLB) season, one American League (AL) team wins the pennant, signifying that they are the league's champion and have the right to play in the World Series against the champion of the National League (NL). The pennant ...

and a World Series, in 1913 and 1914, respectively, although Thomas did not play in either of the latter two World Series. In the 1911 season, Thomas finished eighth in American League MVP voting, with 17

extra base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...

s and 101

total base In baseball statistics, total bases (TB) is the number of bases a player has gained with hits. It is a weighted sum for which the weight value is 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple, and 4 for a home run. Only bases attained from hits ...

s. In 484 career games, he batted .242 with 327 hits and 155 RBI. In 1918, while the great Influenza hammered Philadelphia, Ira volunteered at great personal risk to drive the sick to hospital for treatment. After retiring, Thomas was a scout for the Athletics, remaining with the franchise even as it relocated to Kansas City in 1955. He died in Philadelphia in 1958, aged 77.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Ira Major League Baseball catchers New York Highlanders players Detroit Tigers players Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Philadelphia Athletics scouts Hartford Senators players Newark Sailors players Providence Grays (minor league) players Providence Clamdiggers (baseball) players Minor league baseball managers Baseball players from Saratoga County, New York 1881 births 1958 deaths