Chester David "Pinch" Thomas (January 24, 1888 – December 24, 1953) 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 ...

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 ...

who played in

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 ...

from

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

through

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1912–17) and

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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

(1918–21). Listed at , 173 lb., Thomas batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Camp Point, Illinois.

Biography

The Red Sox signed Thomas in 1911 but allowed him to play the 1911 season with the Sacramento Sacts before recalling him to the Major Leagues for the 1912 season. He spent the 1912 season as a little-used backup catcher for 1912 World Series championship Red Sox. A fine defensive replacement, Thomas was the primary catcher for the Red Sox during three years, helping them to the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

and 1916. On June 23, 1917, Thomas was involved in a combined no-hitter in which he and

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

were both ejected after disagreement over the strike zone after Ruth walked the first batter. Ernie Shore and Sam Agnew replaced Ruth and Thomas respectively and promptly caught the walked batter at second and recorded 26 consecutive outs. In 1917 he led

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 ...

catchers with a .986

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

, but at the end of the season he was dealt to the

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 ...

, with two other players, in the same transaction that brought Joe Bush, Wally Schang and

Amos Strunk Amos Aaron Strunk (January 22, 1889 – July 22, 1979) was a center fielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1908 through 1924. A member of four World Series champion teams, Strunk batted and threw left-handed. He was born in Philadelphi ...

to Boston. He did not appear in a game for the Athletics and was sold to the Indians. While in Cleveland, he won a fourth World Series ring in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

. A good pinch-hitter as well, he hit .417 (13-for-31) from 1913 to 1918. In a 10-season career, Thomas was a .237 hitter (245-for-1035) with two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 102 RBI, including 88 runs, 27 doubles, eight triples, 12

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s, and a .318

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

. In 423 catching appearances, he committed 52 errors in 1,948 chances for a .973 fielding percentage. He appeared as himself in the Paramount feature film ''

Warming Up 'Warming up' is a part of stretching and preparation for physical exertion or a performance by exercising or practicing gently beforehand, usually undertaken before a performance or practice. Athletes, singers, actors and others warm up before s ...

''. Thomas died in

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

at age 65.

References

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Pinch 1888 births 1953 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Boston Red Sox players Cleveland Indians players Baseball players from Adams County, Illinois People from Adams County, Illinois Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Sacramento Sacts players Hartford Senators players Portland Beavers players 20th-century American sportsmen