Valmy Thomas

Valmy Thomas
Catcher
Born: (1925-10-21)October 21, 1925
Santurce, Puerto Rico
Died: October 16, 2010(2010-10-16) (aged 84)
Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 16, 1957, for the New York Giants
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1961, for the Cleveland Indians
MLB statistics
Batting average .230
Home runs 12
Runs batted in 60
Teams

Valmy Thomas (October 21, 1925 – October 16, 2010)[1][2] was a Major League Baseball catcher. Thomas was the first Virgin Islands native to play in the Majors (his mother gave birth to Thomas in San Juan, Puerto Rico, because of better medical care available there, returning to their native land immediately after his birth). In his five-year career, he played for five different home cities: the New York Giants (1957), the San Francisco Giants (1958), the Philadelphia Phillies (1959), the Baltimore Orioles (1960), and the Cleveland Indians (1961). Thomas was one of the original San Francisco Giants, opening the 1958 season as their starting catcher. After his major league career, while playing for the Atlanta Crackers of the International League, Thomas was shot and critically wounded, in a dispute over a woman, by mortician-musician Cleveland Lyons, who then committed suicide.[3]

Thomas died in Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, at the age of 84.

References

  1. ↑ Obituary, The San Francisco Examiner, October 23, 2010
  2. ↑ Baseball Happenings, October 23, 2010
  3. ↑ "Catcher is critical following shooting". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. 22 August 1962. p. 13. Retrieved 8 June 2010.

4. The Original San Francisco Giants, by Steve Bitker, Sports Publishing, Inc., 1998.


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