Thomas Lamb Beals (August 1850 – October 2, 1915) was an American

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), ...

player in the

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...

and the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. He played mostly in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

and at second base for the

Washington Olympics The Olympic Club of Washington, D.C., or Washington Olympics in modern nomenclature, was an early professional baseball team. When the National Association of Base Ball Players permitted openly professional clubs for the 1869 season, the Olympics ...

Washington Blue Legs The Washington Nationals of the 1870s were the first important baseball club in the capital city of the United States. They competed briefly in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (commonly referred to as the National Associ ...

, Boston Red Stockings, and Chicago White Stockings from 1871 to 1880. Beals made his debut for the Olympics playing under the name W. Thomas on July 27, 1871. The Olympics franchise did not last beyond nine games into their 1872 schedule, and Beals was able to join the Blue Stockings the next season as a second baseman/

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. He had the best season of his career, hitting .272 with a career-high 24 RBI on 46 hits. In 1874, Beals started playing under his given name with the perennially powerful Red Stockings. As a part-time second baseman/

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 ...

, he only managed to hit .196. He reprised his part-time role in the Boston outfield the next season but significantly increased his production, hitting .265. After that 1875 season, the National Association became the National League, and Beals was without a job in Major League Baseball for the next four seasons. Beals reemerged in 1880 with the White Stockings at age 29. He played 13 games for the Chicago club that season, hitting a career-low .152, and hung up his spikes after the season. Beals died, at the age of 65, on October 2, 1915 in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and he is interred at

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a rural cemetery located in Colma, California, a place known as the "City of the Silent". History Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is the final resting site for several membe ...

Colma, California Colma (Ohlone for "Springs") is a small incorporated List of municipalities in California, town in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,507 at the 2020 census. The town w ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beals, Tommy Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball second basemen Morrisania Unions players Chicago White Stockings players Washington Olympics players Washington Blue Legs players Boston Red Stockings players Baseball players from New York (state) 19th-century baseball players 1850 births 1915 deaths San Francisco Mutuals players Oakland Pioneers players