Donald Newlin Thompson (December 28, 1923 – September 28, 2009) was a

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), ...

player. He was an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

and

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 ...

from 1949 to 1954.

Baseball career

Thompson was born in

Swepsonville, North Carolina Swepsonville is a town in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population at the 2010 census was 1,154. Geography Swepsonville is located at (36.026744, - ...

. In 1943, he signed with 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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

organization as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He pitched in the minor leagues for a few years but then hurt his arm."Don Thompson, 85, Former Brooklyn Dodger, 1923-2009"
''baseballhappenings.net''. Retrieved 2010-11-03. He converted into an outfielder, and in 1947 he hit .328 for the Class D Milford Red Sox. Thompson made his Major League debut in 1949 for the Braves. After the season, he was traded to the Dodgers and spent 1950 with their top minor league club, the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

. He led the Royals in all three triple crown categories and was promoted to the Major League team in 1951. As a backup outfielder in 1951, Thompson hit just .229. He had the lowest

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 is ...

and

OPS In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea. Iconography In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...

of any Dodger player with over 100 at-bats, and Brooklyn lost the pennant by one game. In 1952, Thompson returned to Montreal and batted .345. He was Brooklyn's

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

in 1953. His career highlight came in game 4 of that year's

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, when he threw out the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

at home plate to end the game."Don Thompson's Obit"
''thedeadballera.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-03. In 1954, Thompson hit just .040 in 34 games and was again sent down to Montreal. He retired after the season.

Later life

Thompson went into the automobile business after his baseball days were over and later became a

real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

. He was elected into the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame in 1997. Thompson died in 2009, at the age of 85.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Don 1923 births 2009 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Boston Braves players Brooklyn Dodgers players Roanoke Red Sox players Scranton Miners players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Milford Red Sox players Columbus Red Birds players Rochester Red Wings players Montreal Royals players Baseball players from North Carolina People from Swepsonville, North Carolina