1976 Topps #148 - Stan Thomas

• Stan Thomas had a short (1974-1977) career as a pitcher for four American League teams. He was originally drafted by the Washington Senators in 1971. He was used mostly as a starter in the minors in 1971 and 1972. In 1973 and 1974 Stan was used exclusively as a reliever.

• Thomas made his major league debut on July 5, 1974. He made 12 relief appearances and had no record with a 6.59 ERA in 13.2 innings. He didn't pitch after September 3--he may have been hurt or the Rangers may have decided to look at other guys.

• Stan appeared in 46 games with one start in 1975. He had a 4-4 record with a 3.10 ERA and three saves.

• Thomas had his best season for the Indians in 1976. He had an identical 4-4 record, but he improved his ERA to 2.30 and had three saves.

• Stan was taken by the Seattle Mariners in the expansion draft. He had knee surgery and it affected his pitching. Thomas had a record of 2-6 with a 6.02 ERA for the Mariners and pitched only once in June and once in July.

• Apparently he had an incident with former minor league roommate Mike Cubbage that helped expedite his departure from the Mariners (read comment #10 in this Cardboard Gods blog entry). In the first inning of a game, Stan threw four straight balls at Cubbage. None of the balls hit Cubbage. Darrell Johnson pulled Thomas from the game and a few days later he was shipped to the Yankees in a "conditional deal." I'm not sure it happened quite like that -- he pitched to nine batters in his last appearance for Seattle on July 10. Stan started the game, pitched one inning and allowed four runs in a 15-0 loss to the Twins. He pitched for the Yankees' AAA club until being called back up in September. He made three appearances for the Yankees (1-0, 7.11). Thomas pitched for AAA Tucson (Rangers) in 1978, but a 6-12, 6.47 record convinced him that it was over.