Samuel Luther Thompson (March 5, 1860 – November 7, 1922), nicknamed "Big Sam", was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1898 and with a brief comeback in 1906. At , the Indiana native was one of the larger players of his day and was known for his prominent handlebar mustache. He played as a right fielder in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Wolverines (1885–1888), Philadelphia Phillies (1889–1898) and Detroit Tigers (1906). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
Thompson had a .331 career batting average and was one of the most prolific run producers in baseball history. His career run batted in (RBI) to games played ratio of .923 (1,305 RBIs in 1,410 games) remains the highest in major league history. In 1895, Thompson averaged 1.44 RBIs per game, and his 166 RBIs in 1887 (in only 127 games) remained the major league record until 1921 when Babe Ruth collected 168 (albeit in 152 games). Thompson still holds the major league record for most RBIs in a single month with 61 in August 1894 while playing for the Phillies. Manager Bill Watkins in 1922 called Thompson "the greatest natural hitter of all time." He was the tenth player with 2,000 career hits, doing so in 1898.
Defensively, Thompson was known to have one of the strongest arms of any outfielder in the early decades of the game. He still ranks among the all-time major league leaders with 61 double plays from the outfield (16th all time) and 283 outfield assists (12th all time). Thompson also had good speed on the base paths and, in 1889, he became the first major league player to reach 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season.
Early years
Thompson was born in Danville, Indiana, in 1860. He was the fifth of eleven children born to Jesse and Rebecca Thompson. After reaching adulthood, Thompson became employed as a carpenter in Danville. He and five of his brothers also played on a local baseball team known as the Danville Browns. In five games at Evansville, Thompson compiled a .391 batting average.
Thompson signed with the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the newly formed Western League in 1885. He compiled a .321 average in 30 games with the Hoosiers. a line-up that included Thompson, Deacon McGuire, Sam Crane, Chub Collins, Jim Donnelly, Mox McQuery, Gene Moriarty, and Dan Casey.
Thompson later told the colorful story of his acquisition by Detroit. Detroit sent two representatives (Marsh and Maloney) to Indianapolis, principally to sign the Hoosiers' battery of Larry McKeon and Jim Keenan. The Wolverines were outbid by the Cincinnati Reds for McKeon and Keenan but wound up with the Hoosiers' manager (Bill Watkins) and the rest of the team's starting lineup. The only catch was that a 10-day waiting period would allow other teams to outbid Detroit. Marsh and Maloney promptly sent the players to Detroit and quartered them in a hotel there. The next morning, the players were told that the team had arranged a fishing trip for them. The players boarded the steamship Annette and enjoyed the first day and night of successful fishing. After three days, the players became suspicious, but the ship captain laughed when asked when they would return to Detroit. As the players became mutinous on the sixth day, the captain admitted he had been ordered to keep them "out at sea" for 10 days.</blockquote>
The players were only later presented with their accumulated mail which included scores of offers from other clubs. Thompson compiled a .303 batting average in 63 games. Despite playing only the second half of his rookie season, Thompson ranked among the National League leaders with seven home runs (third most in the league) and nine triples (10th most in the league).
1887 season
thumb|320px|right|[[1887 Detroit Wolverines season|1887 Detroit Wolverines -- Thompson 3rd from left in back row]]
Thompson had his breakout season in 1887 when he won the National League batting crown with .372 batting average, and he set a major league record with 166 RBIs. Thompson also led the league in hits (203), triples (23), slugging percentage (.565), total bases (308), and at bats (545). The Wolverines then went on to defeat the St. Louis Browns of the American Association in a 15-game World Series challenge. Thompson played in all 15 games of the World Series and led all hitters with a .362 average, two home runs, seven RBIs and a .621 slugging percentage. His batting average declined by 90 points to .282, and the fortunes of the entire 1888 Detroit team followed suit. The team finished in fifth place with a 68–63 record. With high salaries owed to the team's star players, and gate receipts declining markedly, the team folded in October 1888 season with the players being sold to other teams.
Philadelphia Phillies
1889–1892
On October 16, 1888, Thompson was purchased from the Wolverines by the Philadelphia Quakers (known as the Philadelphia Phillies beginning in 1890), for $5,000 cash (equal to $ today). The Phillies were a good, but not great team, during Thompson's first four years in Philadelphia, finishing in fourth place in 1889, 1891 and 1892, and in third place in 1890.
1893–1895
From 1893 to 1895, Thompson hit his stride with the Phillies. During those three years, he hit .390 and averaged 207 hits, 125 runs, 146 RBIs, 21 triples, and 24 stolen bases. And he compiled those numbers while striking out an average of only 14 times per season.
Thompson's 1893 totals included a league-leading 222 hits and 37 doubles. Thompson finally agreed in March 1894 to return to the Phillies, but only after management agreed to improve travel accommodations. Thompson also led the National League with a career-high .696 slugging percentage,
In 1897, at age 37, Thompson was sidelined by pain and appeared in only three games. Without Thompson, the 1897 Phillies dropped to 10th place with a 55–77 record.
Before the 1898 season began, Thompson gave an interview in which he questioned the Phillies chances to compete in 1898: "What are the Phillies' chances this season? Six clubs, Cincinnati Baltimore, Boston, New York, Cleveland and Brooklyn are bound to beat them, and they will have to fight hard to lead the second division, and I very much doubt if they can do that." Though his loyalty to the Phillies was questioned,
Detroit Tigers
thumb|left|175px|Thompson in 1908
Late in the 1906 baseball season, Thompson briefly returned to the major leagues as a player for the Detroit Tigers. With starting outfielders Ty Cobb and Davy Jones out of the Tigers lineup with injuries, Thompson volunteered to fill in. At age 46, Thompson had remained active, playing baseball for the Detroit Athletic Club and other local teams. Accordingly, in late August and early September 1906, he took his old place in right field for Detroit. Thompson's return to baseball led to an increase in attendance, as "the stands and bleachers were full of special Thompson delegations." After getting a hit and two RBIs in his first game, he totaled seven hits, four runs, three RBIs and a triple in eight games with the Tigers.) Detroit sports writer Paul H. Bruske noted that Thompson was still able to throw the ball from deep right field to the plate "on a line" and that he still had "a lot of speed on the bases."
Career statistics and legacy
In 15 major league seasons, Thompson compiled a .331 batting average with 1,988 hits, 343 doubles, 161 triples, 126 home runs, 1,305 RBIs, and 232 stolen bases.
Thompson was one of the most prolific run producers in baseball history. His career RBI to games played ratio of .923 (1,305 RBIs in 1,410 games) remains the highest in major league history, higher even than Lou Gehrig (.921), Hank Greenberg (.915), Joe DiMaggio (.885), and Babe Ruth (.884). In 1895, Thompson averaged 1.44 RBIs per game (147 RBIs in 102 games), and it stood as the major league record until 1921 when Babe Ruth collected 168 (albeit in 152 games). Thompson still holds the major league record for most RBIs in a single month with 61 in August 1894 while playing for the Phillies.
Thompson was also one of the best power hitters of the era before Babe Ruth. At the end of the 19th century, Thompson's 126 career home runs ranked second only to Roger Connor. Defensively, Thompson still ranks among the all-time major league leaders with 61 double plays from the outfield (16th all time) and 283 outfield assists (12th all time). Thompson has also been credited by baseball historians with perfecting "the art of throwing the ball to the plate on one bounce, which catchers found easier to handle than the usual throw on the fly."
Thompson died in 1922 at age 62. He had a heart attack while serving as an election inspector on November 7 and was stricken again later in the morning after being taken to his home located at 6468 Trumbull Avenue in Detroit. Upon learning of Thompson's death, his former Detroit manager Bill Watkins recalled Thompson as "not only a great baseball player, but as one of the finest gentlemen I ever knew." At Thompson's funeral, "Michigan's foremost citizens – state and city officials, judges, bankers, doctors, millionaires, laborers – paid homage ... to their beloved friend", and the neighborhood in which Thompson lived "was packed with expensive automobiles and their liveried chauffeurs" as workmen and wealthy men "discussed their favorite player with an unusual spirit of camaraderie." Thompson was interred at the historic Elmwood Cemetery in Detroit.
See also
- 1887 Detroit Wolverines season
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
- List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders