| Ira Thomas | ||
 |
Full Name: Ira Felix Thomas Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 6-2 Weight: 200 lbs. Born: Jan 22, 1881 in Ballston Spa, NY College: ? Major League Debut: May 18, 1906 Died: Oct 11, 1958 in Philadelphia, PA |
| Ira Thomas | ||
|
Full Name: Ira Felix Thomas Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 6-2 Weight: 200 lbs. Born: Jan 22, 1881 in Ballston Spa, NY College: ? Major League Debut: May 18, 1906 Died: Oct 11, 1958 in Philadelphia, PA |
| CAREER BATTING STATISTICS |
| BATTING | |||||||||||||||
| Year | Team | Avg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 1906 | NYY | .200 | 44 | 115 | 12 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 0 | .258 | .243 | .501 |
| 1907 | NYY | .192 | 80 | 208 | 20 | 40 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 10 | 0 | .240 | .269 | .509 |
| 1908 | DET | .307 | 40 | 101 | 6 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 0 | .346 | .317 | .663 |
| 1909 | PHI | .223 | 84 | 256 | 22 | 57 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 18 | 0 | .292 | .281 | .573 |
| 1910 | PHI | .278 | 60 | 180 | 14 | 50 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 0 | .301 | .361 | .662 |
| 1911 | PHI | .273 | 103 | 297 | 33 | 81 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 23 | 0 | .341 | .340 | .681 |
| 1912 | PHI | .216 | 46 | 139 | 14 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 0 | .268 | .295 | .563 |
| 1913 | PHI | .283 | 21 | 53 | 3 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 8 | .333 | .396 | .729 |
| 1914 | PHI | .000 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| 1915 | PHI | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| AVG | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | OBP | SLG | OPS | ||
| Totals | .242 | 481 | 1352 | 124 | 327 | 46 | 17 | 3 | 155 | 82 | 8 | .296 | .308 | .604 | |
| BATTING | BASERUNNING | MISC | ||||||||||
| Year | Team | HBP | GDP | TB | IBB | SH | SF | SB | CS | SB% | AB/HR | AB/K |
| 1906 | NYY | 1 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1907 | NYY | 3 | 0 | 56 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 208.0 | 0.0 |
| 1908 | DET | 1 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1909 | PHI | 7 | 0 | 72 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1910 | PHI | 0 | 0 | 65 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 180.0 | 0.0 |
| 1911 | PHI | 8 | 0 | 101 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1912 | PHI | 2 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 139.0 | 0.0 |
| 1913 | PHI | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 | 6.6 |
| 1914 | PHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 1915 | PHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| HBP | GDP | TB | IBB | SH | SF | SB | CS | SB% | AB/HR | AB/K | ||
| Totals | 22 | 0 | 416 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 1.000 | 450.7 | 169.0 | |
| CAREER FIELDING STATISTICS |
| Year | Team | POS | G | PO | A | E | DP | FPCT |
| 1906 | NYY | C | 42 | 145 | 38 | 12 | 1 | .938 |
| 1907 | NYY | C | 61 | 257 | 90 | 17 | 7 | .953 |
| 1907 | NYY | 1B | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 |
| 1907 | Total | 63 | 264 | 92 | 17 | 8 | .954 | |
| 1908 | DET | C | 29 | 124 | 15 | 4 | 3 | .972 |
| 1909 | PHI | C | 84 | 479 | 112 | 9 | 5 | .985 |
| 1910 | PHI | C | 60 | 324 | 86 | 14 | 8 | .967 |
| 1911 | PHI | C | 103 | 499 | 150 | 17 | 12 | .974 |
| 1912 | PHI | C | 46 | 207 | 58 | 8 | 5 | .971 |
| 1913 | PHI | C | 21 | 88 | 25 | 2 | 0 | .983 |
| 1914 | PHI | C | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1915 | PHI | C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| G | PO | A | E | DP | FPCT | |||
| Totals | 450 | 2136 | 578 | 83 | 42 | .970 | ||
Ira Thomas was a member of four Philadelphia Athletics championship teams and a favorite of
Connie Mack. Ira led all American League catchers in fielding percentage in 1909 with .985 and caught 450 games in
his 10-year career. In 1911 Thomas caught 103 games, his high, for the Athletics.
While playing for Detroit in the 1908 World Series Ira, batting for Charley O'Leary, hits the very first World Series pinch hit when he singles in the 9th inning on October 10, 1908. [Note that there had been 12 previous pinch-hit attempts in World Series play, including the batter immediately before Thomas.]
During the Great Influenza outbreak in 1918, Ira Thomas is noted for his emergency work, transporting the ill in his car to hospitals. His wife worked in an emergency hospital. This interesting note about a catcher with a decent career certainly speaks for the kind of person that he was. [Thanks to SABR Member Dave Anderson for this bit of information.]