From an interview done July 13, 1997:
Luther B. "Bud" Thomas threw the ball on April 23, 1939 that was the first
home run Ted Williams hit in the majors. Thomas was pitching for the
Philadelphia Athletics and Ted came up in the first inning, with two
on. Ted powered it out. Contemporary reports indicate it was fastball
which Ted hit into the bleachers, where only Ruth, Gehrig and Hal Trosky
had ever placed one. Thomas himself remembers it differently today, some
58 years later.
Bud Thomas:
He hit his first home run off me. The first one he ever hit. In Fenway Park. 1939. Spring of '39. He hit a sort of a change of pace, like it
was a slow ball. He pulled it hard. It was just a fair ball way down the
right field line.
[Thomas played seven years in the majors. Ted never hit any other homers off him. Didn't talk to him after the game. Never did talk to him. After
baseball, Thomas started working on the farm in Virginia. Either had to
take full time on the farm or go into the Army. Has built up a dairy
business.]
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Copyright © 1997 by Bill Nowlin. Posted May 24, 2001.
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