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Milt Thompson (baseball)

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Milt Thompson
File:Milt1.jpg
Thompson during batting practice with the Phillies
Outfielder
Born: (1959-01-05) January 5, 1959 (age 65)
Washington, D.C.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 4, 1984, for the Atlanta Braves
Last MLB appearance
July 28, 1996, for the Colorado Rockies
MLB statistics
Batting average.274
Home runs47
Runs batted in357
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Milton Bernard Thompson (born January 5, 1959) is an American former professional baseball outfielder / pinch hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Colorado Rockies. He is currently a coach in the Astros’ farm system. Over Thompson’s MLB career, he compiled a batting average of .274.

Major league career

The Braves began Thompson's career by drafting him in the 2nd round of the 1979 draft, and starting him five years later in 1984.[1] After playing in left field, Atlanta traded Thompson with Steve Bedrosian to the Phillies for Ozzie Virgil, among others. Thompson impressed Philadelphia, batting .251 to .303 during his three-year stint there.

On December 16, 1988, Thompson was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Steve Lake and Curt Ford,[2] where he spent four years and batted for his highest average ever, .307. In 1992, Thompson was granted free agency. As a free agent, he signed once again with the Phillies, playing on their 1993 National League Champion team and playing left field through the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. During the ensuing offseason, Thompson was traded to the Houston Astros for pitcher Tom Edens. Once again, in 1994, Thompson was granted free agency after being with Houston for only seven months. He re-signed with Houston as a free agent, which extended his career there to two years. After that, Thompson was back in free agency, and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which led to him being selected off waivers for the Colorado Rockies in July, 1996. His career with the Rockies only lasted three months: Thompson was released on August 2 of the same year, ending his career.[3]

Coaching

In 1997, Milt became the minor league outfield/baserunning coordinator in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization. In 1998, he joined the Phillies as a minor league coach. He lasted there for two seasons, until taking 2000 off, until returning to become a minor league baserunning/outfield coordinator again in the Phillies' farm system. On September 9, 2003, Thompson joined the major league Phillies staff as first base coach. The next year, he changed coaching positions to hitting, where he has been for two seasons.[4] Since Thompson's tenure as batting coach the Phillies have led the league twice in runs scored, even though they have alternated between only 2nd and 3rd place in their respective division due to pitching difficulties. Thompson was one of the only coaches not fired from the organization in 2005. As the hitting coach of the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies, he earned his first World Series ring of his long career in baseball. The Phillies would return to the World Series in 2009, where they lost to the New York Yankees in six games. Having played for the 1993 National League Champions, Thompson joined Larry Bowa and John Vukovich as the only Phillies in franchise history to go to the World Series as both a player and coach for the club.

On Thursday, July 22, 2010, Milt Thompson was relieved of his duties as hitting coach for the Philadelphia Phillies. Former Minor League hitting coach Greg Gross has replaced Thompson. He was hired by the Houston Astros in the offseason to be their outfield/baserunning coordinator in their Minor League system.[5]

Personal life

Thompson has four daughters. He resides in Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey with his family.

Trivia

See also

References

  1. ^ Thompson, Milt Archived 2006-06-14 at the Wayback Machine Baseball Library
  2. ^ "Phils Trade Thompson For 2 Cards". philly-archives. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  3. ^ Milt Thompson Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Coach Bios - Hitting - Thompson, Milt Phillies.com
  5. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101111&content_id=16066334&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
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