Thomas Everette Wright (September 22, 1923 – September 5, 2017) was an American

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 ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. The

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 ...

, born in

Rutherfordton, North Carolina Rutherfordton (usually pronounced ( ) or ( ), among other similar variations) is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,213 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat. Geography Rutherfordton is concentrat ...

, played all or part of nine 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), ...

(1948–56) for four

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

teams. He threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, batted

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, stood tall and weighed as an active player. Wright was signed by 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 ...

as an amateur free agent in 1942. After his first professional season, he entered the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, where he served in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II and missed the 1943–45 seasons. He returned to baseball in 1946, and led the Class C

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

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 ...

(.380) and hits (an even 200), while making the CL All-Star team. His performance earned him a three-level promotion to the Double-A

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

for 1947, where he batted .325 and was also named an All-Star. Then, in 1948, he hit over .300 (at .307) for a third straight season, this time in the Triple-A

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

. On September 15, , he made his Major League debut with the Red Sox— tripling as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

in his first big-league

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. Wright then returned to Triple-A for the entire campaign. He won the American Association batting championship (hitting .368) and collected 200 hits, second in the league. During the September 1949 pennant race, he made five pinch-hitting appearances for the Red Sox. Wright spent all of on Boston's roster, hitting .318 in part-time and pinch-hitting duty, with 54

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

and 115

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

s. Of his 34 hits, only seven went for extra bases, all doubles. He then returned to Triple-A for much of , getting into only 28 games with Boston, 13 as a starting outfielder, and batting only .222. After the season, he was traded to the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

on November 28, 1951. In , Wright would set personal bests in games played (89) and hits (50), but he batted only .253 with two

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and the Browns traded him after 29 games in St. Louis 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 ...

on June 15. He was a reserve outfielder for the ChiSox for the next year and a half, playing behind

Minnie Miñoso Orestes "Minnie" Miñoso (, ; born Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso Arrieta; November 29, 1923 – March 1, 2015), nicknamed "The Cuban Comet" and "Mr. White Sox", was a Cuban professional baseball player. He began his baseball career in the Neg ...

Sam Mele Sabath Anthony "Sam" Mele (January 21, 1922 – May 1, 2017) was an American right fielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. As a manager, he led the Minnesota Twins to their first American League championship in . Early li ...

and

Jim Rivera Manuel Joseph "Jim" Rivera (July 22, 1921 – November 13, 2017) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played for three Major League Baseball (MLB) teams over ten seasons: St. Louis Browns (1952), Chicago White Sox (1952–1961), a ...

. During

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

on March 27, , he was traded for the third and last time, to the Washington Senators. But Wright was still unable to break into the everyday lineup, appearing in 76 games, half of them as a starting outfielder. He spent most of and in minor league baseball, except for eight appearances as a pinch hitter and one game for Washington as a pinch runner at the tail end of 1955 and the beginning of 1956. On April 18, 1956 he played his final game after nine seasons in the big leagues. Wright retired after the 1957 minor league season. In 341 MLB games played, Wright registered 175 hits, including 28 doubles and 11 triples, as well as six home runs and 99 RBI. He batted .255 lifetime. Wright died September 5, 2017, aged 93.

References

External links

, o
SABR Biography Project
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Tom 1923 births 2017 deaths Baseball players from North Carolina Birmingham Barons players Boston Red Sox players Charleston Senators players Chattanooga Lookouts players Chicago White Sox players Danville-Scholfield Leafs players Durham Bulls players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players People from Shelby, North Carolina St. Louis Browns players United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Washington Senators (1901–1960) players