Forrest "Frosty" Thomas (May 23, 1881 – March 18, 1970) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

right-handed pitcher and medical doctor. He played 13 seasons of professional baseball, including two games in

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), ...

for the

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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in May 1905.

Early years

Thomas was born in 1881 in Faucett, Missouri, or

Gower, Missouri Gower is a city in Buchanan County, Missouri, Buchanan and Clinton County, Missouri, Clinton counties in the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. The population was 1,526 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ce ...

. He attended Warrensburg Teachers College.

Professional baseball

He played for the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

of the Western League from 1903 to 1907, with a brief two-game major league stopover with the

in May 1905. In 1903, Frosty lost 20 games for the Millers, but the following season he turned things around and had a 21–15 record in 329 innings. The 20-win season got him a shot with the Tigers. He pitched in two games for the Tigers on May 1, 1905, and May 6, 1905. In six innings, he gave up eight runs (five earned), and finished his major league career with a record of 0–1 and an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 7.50. He went hitless in two major league at bats. After being released by the Tigers, Frosty returned to Minneapolis where he was 12–11 in 1905, 18–15 in 1906, and 14–16 in 1907. He later played for the Montgomery Senators in the Southern Association (1908-1911),

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

(1912),

Sioux City Packers The Sioux City Packers was the primary name of the minor league baseball team based in Sioux City, Iowa playing in various seasons between 1888 and 1960. History Sioux City has a long professional baseball history. The team was known as the S ...

(1912), St. Joseph Drummers (1912, 1914-1915), and San Francisco Seals (1913). He compiled a 19–9 record with Montgomery in 1908.

Later years

Thomas was married in 1915 to Ruth Fenton Thomas, and they were married for more than 54 years. He attended Ensworth Medical School and the

University of Minnesota Medical School The University of Minnesota Medical School is the medical school of the University of Minnesota. It is a combination of two campuses situated in Minneapolis and Duluth, Minnesota. The University of Minnesota Medical School is also part of one of ...

. He lived for the last 43 years of his life in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

, was employed on the staff of St. Joseph State Hospital for approximately 25 years, and served two terms as Buchanan County coroner. He died in St. Joseph in 1970 at age 88. He was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Joseph.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Frosty 1881 births 1970 deaths Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Missouri Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Montgomery Senators players Montgomery Climbers players Montgomery Billikens players St. Paul Saints (AA) players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball coaches