Gerald E. "Jerry" Thomas (born 1935) is a former baseball

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 won the

1956 College World Series The 1956 NCAA baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1956 NCAA baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-eliminatio ...

Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. He is one of three players from University of Minnesota to win that award. The others are John Erickson and

Dave Winfield David Mark Winfield (born October 3, 1951) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He is the special assistant to the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Over his 22-year career, he playe ...

. He was an All-American in 1956. Thomas played professionally from 1957 to 1960, never reaching the majors. He was inducted into the University of Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

References

All-American college baseball players Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players 1935 births College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners Living people Durham Bulls players Birmingham Barons players Augusta Tigers players Knoxville Smokies players Aberdeen Pheasants players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1930s-stub