Michael Paul Thompson (born November 6, 1980) is a former

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), ...

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 ...

. The 6'4 right-hander was selected by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

in the 5th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft. In , Thompson showed his first signs of serious major league potential with the Double-A

Mobile BayBears The Mobile BayBears were a Minor League Baseball team based in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The team, which played in the Southern League, served as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres (1997–2006), Arizona Diamondbacks (2007–2 ...

. That season, he went 10–2 with a 3.41

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. Thompson started the season with the Triple-A

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

. He was called up to the Padres on May 17, , defeating the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

in his major league debut. Thompson went on to start 15 more games for the big league club in 2006. In , he played in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and became a free agent at the end of the season.

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1980 births Living people People from Baca County, Colorado Baseball players from Colorado Major League Baseball pitchers San Diego Padres players Arizona League Padres players Fort Wayne Wizards players Idaho Falls Padres players Lake Elsinore Storm players Mobile BayBears players Portland Beavers players Indianapolis Indians players Gulf Coast Pirates players Somerset Patriots players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1980s-stub