Stanley Brown Thomas (born July 11, 1949) is a former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

. Thomas pitched in all or part of four seasons 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), ...

from 1974 until 1977.

Amateur career

Thomas attended

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

and the University of New Haven. From 1968 to 1970, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the Yarmouth Red Sox.

Professional career

Thomas was originally drafted by the Washington Senators in the 27th round of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft. The next season, the Senators became the Texas Rangers, and Thomas made his major league debut in 1974 for that team. After two seasons in Texas, he was traded along with

Ron Pruitt Ronald Ralph Pruitt (born October 21, 1951) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of nine seasons in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers (1975), Cleveland Indians (1976–80 and 1981), Chicago White Sox (1980) an ...

from the Rangers to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

for

John Ellis John Ellis may refer to: Academics *John Ellis (scrivener) (1698–1791), English political writer *John Ellis (naturalist) (1710–1776), English botanical illustrator *John Ellis (physicist, born 1946), British theoretical physicist at CERN * Jo ...

at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 9, 1975. Thomas was chosen in the

1976 MLB expansion draft The 1976 MLB Expansion Draft was held November 5, 1976. This expansion draft was conducted by Major League Baseball to stock the major league rosters of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, new major league expansion franchises establis ...

by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. He split the 1977 season between the Mariners and 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 ...

to end his major league career. He was dealt along with cash from the Yankees to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

for

Jim Spencer James Lloyd Spencer (July 30, 1947 – February 10, 2002) was a Major League Baseball first baseman. Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the left-handed Spencer was recognized for his excellent fielding ability, but also served in later years as a de ...

and

Tommy Cruz Cirilo "Tommy" Cruz Dilan (born February 15, 1951) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals () and Chicago White Sox (). Cruz batted and threw left-handed. He is the brother of Héctor and José Cru ...

on December 12, 1977. The transaction also included an exchange of minor-league right‐handed pitcher, with Ed Ricks going to the White Sox and Bob Polinsky to the Yankees."Sports News Briefs," ''The New York Times'', Tuesday, December 13, 1977.
Retrieved January 22, 2023.

References

External links

1949 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Indians players New York Yankees players Seattle Mariners players Texas Rangers players Burlington Rangers players Geneva Senators players Petroleros de Zulia players Pittsfield Rangers players Spokane Indians players Syracuse Chiefs players Tucson Toros players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Baseball players from Maine People from Rumford, Maine New Haven Chargers baseball players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1940s-stub