Monday, February 22, 2021

#111 Lee Thomas - Boston Red Sox


James Leroy Thomas
Boston Red Sox
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  195
Born:  February 5, 1936, Peoria, IL
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1954 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1961; Los Angeles Angels 1961-1964; Boston Red Sox 1964-1965; Atlanta Braves 1966; Chicago Cubs 1966-1967; Houston Astros 1968

One of the first stars in the expansion Angels' organization, Lee Thomas was an All-Star in 1962, a year in which he finished 11th in the league's MVP voting and hit his personal triple crown career highs by batting .290 with 26 home runs and 104 RBIs.  His big early years with the Angels came after toiling seven years in the Yankees' minor league system, unable to crack their already stacked line-up.  The Yankees traded him to the Angels on May 8, 1961, after Thomas had played only two games with the club.  He cleared the 20-home run plateau in three seasons (1961, 1962 and 1965), but never appeared in the postseason as a player.  Towards the end of his playing career, Thomas spent three seasons in the National League used primarily as a pinch-hitter, and then played the 1969 season in Japan with the Nankai Hawks.

Thomas joined the Cardinals' coaching staff in 1970 as a bullpen coach and spent close to two decades in the Cardinals' organization as a minor league manager, in their front office and as their director of player development.  He helped the franchise win four pennants in the 1980s, including the 1982 World Championship.  Thomas took over as the Phillies' general manager in 1988 and was the architect of the improbable Phillies team that won the 1993 National League pennant with his old Angels' teammate Jim Fregosi (#210) at the helm.  After leaving the Phillies in 1998, he served as a special assistant to the Red Sox general manager until 2003.  Thomas worked as a pro scout for the Astros and Brewers before joining the Orioles' front office from 2011 to 2018.

Building the Set
December 25, 2020 from Belvedere, IL - Card #210
This is one of 32 cards (mostly commons) I received from Jenna and our sons on Christmas morning, as I was asked to do some surrogate shopping on their behalf and I gladly obliged.  I generally went hunting for first series cards, but this is one of several later series cards that snuck into my eBay cart.  This Thomas card was $1.50 and it's one of 11 cards I added from eBay seller mavmil from Belvedere, Illinois.

The Card / Red Sox Team Set
I originally thought my version of this card was wildly off-center, but that's only an illusion given that Topps positioned Thomas' head too far to the left.  He's wearing an Angels' jersey here, and the back of the card explains that Thomas was traded to the Red Sox on June 4, 1964 for Lou Clinton (#229).  The clever cartoon shows the Angel heading south to Boston.  There's not room for anything else given Thomas' lengthy minor league career statistics.

1965 Season
Thomas had a strong season with the Red Sox as their regular first baseman, and was one of the team's more reliable offensive forces along with Carl Yastrzemski (#385) and Tony Conigliaro (#55).  In 151 games, Thomas batted .271 with 22 home runs and 75 RBIs.  After their 100-loss season in 1965, the Red Sox entered a rebuilding mode with Thomas one of the veterans to depart the club.  He was traded to the Braves on December 15th with Jay Ritchie (#494) and Arnold Earley for Dan Osinski (#223) and Bob Sadowski (#156).

Phillies Connection
I had to go direct to the Blog Rules Committee to determine if Thomas should receive a Phillies Alumni tag for his role as the team's general manager.  Ultimately, after intense debate, it was decided only those players, coaches or managers who wore a Phillies uniform during their careers should receive the coveted Phillies Alumni tag and Thomas instead would be relegated to the lower tier "Phillies Connection" designation.

Thomas was hired by the Phillies in June 1988, replacing short-timer Woody Woodward (#487) who had held the position for less than nine months.  In 1989, Thomas pulled off three blockbuster trades, acquiring John Kruk, Terry Mulholland and Lenny Dykstra - players who would form the nucleus of the 1993 pennant-winning team.  He later added Tommy Greene, Dave Hollins, Mitch Williams, Curt Schilling, Larry Andersen, Danny Jackson, Milt Thompson, Pete Incaviglia, Jim Eisenreich and Mariano Duncan, with 20 of the 25 players on the team's 1993 postseason roster arriving via trades or free agency.  The Phillies' finish in 1993 earned Thomas Executive of the Year honors from The Sporting News.

The Phillies were never quite the same after that 1993 season, with injuries and the 1994 player's strike contributing to their swift downfall.  Thomas was fired in December 1997 and replaced by his assistant, Ed Wade.

1961 Topps #464
1962 Topps #154
1964 Topps #255
1967 Topps #458
1968 Topps #438

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1961 Topps #464
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1961-1968
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2017 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-LT

54 - Thomas non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/2/21.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Posted By at
Labels: , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)