Highlighted Year: Roy Thomas, 1903

Outfielder, Philadelphia Phillies

Age: 29

5^th season with Phillies

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 5’11” Weight: 150 

Prior to 1903:

A native of Norristown, Pennsylvania, Thomas was raised by strict Christian parents who did not allow him to play baseball on Sundays, a practice he maintained even during his professional career. Following graduation from the Univ. of Pennsylvania, he played semipro ball locally until signing with the Phillies in 1899. A slender singles hitter with speed and no power, Thomas was an excellent bunter who was also adept at fouling off pitches that resulted in lengthy at bats and large numbers of walks, making him an ideal leadoff hitter. As a rookie he scored 137 runs, a record for a first-year player. He also batted .325 with 12 doubles, 4 triples, 47 RBIs, 42 stolen bases, and a .457 on-base percentage thanks to his drawing 115 walks. In 1900, Thomas led the NL in runs scored (132) and walks drawn (115) while hitting .316 with a .451 OBP. The NL adopted the foul-strike rule in 1901 which counted the first two foul balls in a plate appearance as strikes and a third bunt foul as an out to curtail batters from being able to foul off pitches endlessly to either draw a walk or wear down the pitcher, a common practice at the time. The rule did not curtail Thomas’ ability to draw walks as he again topped the league with 100 in 1901 while batting .309 with a .437 OBP and 27 stolen bases. One of his eight extra-base hits was a home run, the first of his career. He again topped the NL in walks drawn in 1902 with 107 and his .414 OBP also led the circuit while he also batted .286 with 11 extra-base hits, 89 runs scored, 24 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases.

1903 Season Summary

Appeared in 130 games

CF – 130

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 612 [6]

At Bats – 477

Runs – 88 [10, tied with Fred Clarke]

Hits – 156 [10]

Doubles – 11

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 1

RBI – 27

Bases on Balls – 107 [1]

Int. BB – N/A

Strikeouts – 46 [16]

Stolen Bases – 17

Caught Stealing – N/A

Average - .327 [8, tied with Frank Chance, Patsy Donovan & Jake Beckley]

OBP - .453 [1]

Slugging Pct. - .365

Total Bases – 174

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 3

Sac Hits – 20 [4, tied with Jimmy Sheckard, Kid Gleason & James Casey]

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading bases on balls drawn were +25 ahead of runner-up Bill Dahlen

League-leading OBP was +.010 ahead of runner-up Roger Bresnahan

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 6, HR - 1, RBI – 6, SB – 7, AVG - .296, OBP – .434

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at St. Louis Cardinals 8/20

Longest hitting streak – 12 games

Most HR, game – 1 (in 4 AB) vs. St. Louis Cardinals 5/16

HR at home – 1

HR on road – 0

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 2 at Brooklyn 7/28 – 10 innings

Pinch-hitting – No Appearances

Fielding

Chances – 350

Put Outs – 318

Assists – 19

Errors – 13

DP – 3

Pct. - .963 

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The Phillies went 49-86 to finish seventh in the NL, 39.5 games behind the pennant-winning Pittsburgh Pirates, while leading the league in fewest stolen bases (120). Under new ownership, the Phillies suffered through a 4-9 April and were in seventh or eighth for the remainder of the season, with a 16-16 September allowing them to escape the cellar. The August collapse of part of the grandstand at the club’s home venue, the Baker Bowl, caused the club to move to Columbia Park, home of the AL’s Athletics for 16 games while repairs were made.

Aftermath of 1903:

Thomas was a capable defensive outfielder, as exemplified by his leading the league’s center fielders in putouts and assists in 1903. He typically hit the ball to short left field and opposing teams utilized shifts against him. His speed and bunting ability helped to mitigate the effects of the defensive shifting, along with his ability to draw walks. He continued to lead the NL in walks drawn in 1904 with 102. Batting .290 he had an OBP of .416, which ranked second in the league. His string of five straight seasons leading the NL in walks drawn was broken in 1905 when his total of 93 placed third. He hit .317 with a .417 OBP. Thomas returned to the top in 1906 with 107 walks drawn while his average dropped to .254 which led to a .393 OBP. His average dropped further to .243 in 1907 although his 83 walks drawn again led the circuit, but his OBP fell to .374. He remained a top center fielder. With his performance continuing to decline at age 34 in 1908, the Phillies sold Thomas to the Pittsburgh Pirates in June. He went on to bat .251 for the year with a .341 OBP. Waived by the Pirates during the 1909 season, he was picked up by the Boston Doves (now Atlanta Braves) and played in 82 games, hitting .263 with a .369 OBP. He returned to the Phillies in 1910 and batted .183 with a .266 OBP in 23 games at which point he retired. When injuries depleted the Phillies outfield in 1911, Thomas returned to the club and provided negligible production prior to retiring for good at age 37. For his major league career, spent almost entirely with the Phillies, Thomas batted .290 with 1537 hits that included 100 doubles, 53 triples, and 7 home runs. He further scored 1011 runs while drawing 1042 walks (leading the NL seven times) and compiling 299 RBIs, 244 stolen bases, and a .413 OBP. He became the only regular player in major league history to score three times as many runs as he accumulated in RBIs. His RBI total is the lowest of any player with over 1500 hits. 89.6 % of his hits were singles, also a record. Any analysis of his batting statistics provides a number of other anomalies, but his ability to get on base and score runs made him a star. He also had a career fielding percentage of .972. Following his playing career, Thomas coached at Penn and Haverford College. He was involved in several businesses both during and after his playing days. He died in 1959 at age 85.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.