Books and articles about Jason Thompson

Jason Thompson was consistently among the league leaders in walks and on-base percentage, and he became one of the few players with 30-homer seasons in both the AL and NL (31 with the 1977 Tigers, 31 with the 1982 Pirates). He also led each league in total chances at first base (1977 and 1984), though he was never considered exceptional on defense.

RELATED LINKS

Thompson joined Detroit after just 79 minor league games. The powerful lefthander was well suited to Tiger Stadium, and he belted two home runs over its right-field roof in 1977. After hitting 98 HR in four-plus seasons, he was sent to the Angels in May of 1980. He batted .317 for California and was traded to Pittsburgh in a deal that was to have then sent him to the Yankees. But Commissioner Bowie Kuhn nullified the Yankee purchase because the money involved exceeded the cash-purchase limits he was trying to impose. In 1982 Thompson became the third Pirate ever to draw 100 walks and drive in 100 runs in a season. Plagued by injuries in 1984-85, he frustrated Pirate management with his unaggressive hitting and was traded to Montreal in 1986. (ME)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » April 7, 1978: Mark Fidrych scatters five hits in beating Toronto, 6–2. The Tigers get homers from Milt May, Phil Mankowski, and Jason Thompson. The Bird, trying to recover from tendinitis that limited him to 11 starts in 1977, will win only three more ML games. » May 27, 1980: In a trade that helps both teams, the Tigers send Jason Thompson to California for Al Cowens. » July 8, 1982: For the 2nd day in a row, the Reds enter the 9th trailing the Pirates. Today, they turn a 4–2 deficit into an 8–4 lead, scoring six in the top of the 9th. The Pirates answer with a 2-run homer by Willie Stargell and a 3-run double by Jason Thompson off Joe Price, and win, 9–8. » September 7, 1982: The Pirates' Jason Thompson hits his 30th home run of the season in a 9–5 win over the Mets, becoming just the 8th player in history to hit 30 home runs in a season in each league. Thompson hit 31 home runs for the Tigers in 1977. » June 26, 1984: Pirates Jason Thompson hits a pair of home runs in each game of a doubleheader split with the Cubs. The Pirates take the opener, 9–0 behind Rick Rhoden's four hitter, and lose the nitecap, 9–8. » April 28, 1985: Darryl Strawberry hits a grand slam in the first inning at New York but it takes another five hours before the Mets score again. Mookie Wilson scores from 3B when Clint Hurdle's grounder went through the legs of Pittsburgh first baseman Jason Thompson for an error in the 18th inning to give the Mets a 5-4 victory in a game that lasts five hours 21 minutes. Lee Tunnell, the Bucs 7th pitcher, takes the loss. A defensive gem by Rusty Staub, robs the Pirates of at least one run in the top of the 18th. Staub, 41, who weighs 230 is pressed into service when the Mets ran out of players in the 12th inning. Staub played right field when right-handed batters came up and left field when left-handed hitters batted. He was playing right in the top of the 18th. With Tunnell on second and two out, pinch hitter Rick Rhoden hits a looping fly ball down the RF line and Staub makes a running catch to save a run. In the bottom of the 18th Gary Carter draws a walk and Wilson, running for him, goes to third on Strawberry's single to right. When Hurdle's grounder went through Thompson, it ends the longest game in three years. Through one stretch in the marathon, in which 43 players were used, Pirate pitchers hold the Mets hitless for 10 innings.