David Thomas (March 22, 1905 – July 27, 1968), nicknamed "Showboat", was an American

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

from 1929 to 1946. A native of

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, Thomas is considered one of the greatest defensive first basemen in Negro leagues history. In 1945 at age 40, he and

Terris McDuffie Terris Chester McDuffie (May 22, 1910 – April 29, 1968) was a professional American Baseball in the United States, baseball player. He was listed at 6' 1" (1.85 m), 200 lb. (91 kg). Born in Mobile, Alabama, McDuffie was a pitcher, best known ...

were given a tryout by

Branch Rickey Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...

and the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

, two years prior to

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

's breaking of the

baseball color line The color line, also known as the color barrier, in American baseball excluded players of black African descent from Major League Baseball and its affiliated Minor Leagues until 1947 (with a few notable exceptions in the 19th century before the li ...

. Thomas died in Mobile in 1968 at age 63.

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
1905 births 1968 deaths Baltimore Black Sox players Birmingham Black Barons players Brooklyn Royal Giants players New York Black Yankees players New York Cubans players Washington Black Senators players Baseball first basemen Baseball players from Mobile, Alabama 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{Negro-league-baseball-infielder-stub