Jason Thompson

[Cowtipper]

Jason Thompson spent 11 years in the big leagues, hitting .261 with 208 home runs, 782 RBI and a 122 OPS+. He was an All-Star three times and earned MVP votes twice in a career that saw him hit at least 20 home runs five times and at least 30 dingers twice.

From 1980 to 1982, he posted a 145 OPS+ while posting 162 game averages of 29 home runs, 100 RBI and 104 walks a year. From 1977 to 1983, he averaged 23 home runs, 84 RBI and 80 walks a year while posting a 127 OPS+.

The first baseman led the league in putouts twice and first baseman fielding percentage once. He finished in the top ten in bases on balls frequently and was also often near the top of the leader board in defensive putouts.

Statistically, he is similar to Eddie Robinson, John Mayberry, Tony Clark, Oscar Gamble, Joe Pepitone, Pete O'Brien, Don Mincher, Kevin Millar, Donn Clendenon and Andre Thornton.

What do you think about Jason Thompson? Should he be in the Hall of Fame? Did he have Hall of Fame potential?

[Captain Cold Nose]

Thompson was supposed to lead the Tigers back into prominence after things went south when they kept too many of the 1968 team too long. Him, Ron LeFlore and Mark Fidrych were the keys. Once they gave up on Thompson, they didn't really have an adequate replacement until they decided Darrell Evans could still play every day, years after Thompson was gone.

He was decent. He was not going to be anything more than that.

[BigRon]

Saw Thompson play a lot with the Pirates. He'd had early success with the Tigers, got traded somewhere else in the AL, then to the Pirates around 1980 or so. He had a couple of very good seasons for Pgh- plenty of power, good eye, decent average. Then he started downhill, though he was still young. I think he had some injuries but can't remember what happened. He was a pretty decent fielder, but not exceptional. A good player who declined very early.

His career is nowhere near HOF territory, though he was a good player for 6 or 7 years.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Thompson was a much better offensive player than is recognized. He didn't hit as many HRs as people thought he would, so he is viewed as a disappointment, but he drew a huge number of walks and posted OWPs at .670 or better five years straight (1978-82). His lifetime OWP is .632, and while it's not all you'd want in a HOFer, it's .002 higher than Dale Murphy and .004 higher than Jim Rice. In 69 ABs in 1986 when he lost his job to Andres Galerraga. he posted a .96 BA for a .406 OBP for a .520 OWP. That's decline phase material, to be sure, but not extreme decline. Thompson still walked enough and hit for enough average to where he could still play, but a lot of teams saw the .196 BA and were scared away. He had a larger than normal platoon differential, but he was a lefty hitter, so he got most of the ABs in a platoon situation.

Had he stayed in Detroit, he might have been a HOFer. Might. He was something of a young-player-with-old-player-skills, although not the extreme version. I think part of his problem was that people didn't realize that he was an extremely valuable offensive player, due to his platoon differential and good, but not super, power numbers.

[Cougar]

Jason Thompson was one of my first baseball cards. Apropos of nothing.

[JR Hart]

Thompson was supposed to lead the Tigers back into prominence after things went south when they kept too many of the 1968 team too long. Him, Ron LeFlore and Mark Fidrych were the keys. Once they gave up on Thompson, they didn't really have an adequate replacement until they decided Darrell Evans could still play every day, years after Thompson was gone.

He was decent. He was not going to be anything more than that.

That plan almost worked. They came within a whisker of getting to the World Seies in 1972.

[Los Bravos]

Thompson was supposed to lead the Tigers back into prominence after things went south when they kept too many of the 1968 team too long. Him, Ron LeFlore and Mark Fidrych were the keys.

I would include Steve Kemp in that mix. I remember a lot of the publications at the time had that duo paired as a double threat for the forseeable future.

[Freakshow]

That plan almost worked. They came within a whisker of getting to the World Seies in 1972.

Thanks to the brilliance of Billy Martin, plus the Orioles' worst record they ever had under Earl Weaver.

[Captain Cold Nose]

That plan almost worked. They came within a whisker of getting to the World Seies in 1972.

Indeed. And three years later they had their first 100-loss season in lord knows how long. The lack of developed young players around that time hurt them, as short-term as that was.

Steve Kemp really started to emerge once it was realized neither Thompson nor LeFlore were going to be as good as hoped. Hopes were high on Kemp, as well. And we just hoped their young middle infielders would learn to hit and one young pitcher would emerge after Fidrych wasn't going to come back from injury.

[TomBodet]

He is one reason the Red Sox lost in '78, I remember a solo shot he whacked into the Bp in Fenway, winning a 2-1 game for Det. They hung w Sox til early June that year.

[Freakshow]

Jason Thompson was just another classic Big Moose first basemen who feasted on right-handed pitchers but offered little else in his game. Never a great athlete, but he was smart, and he knew what he had to do to succeed as a hitter in MLB pretty much from the get-go. He was fortunate to play in home ballparks that suited his left-handed power.

The Tigers began the 1976 seasons with Dan Meyer as the starting 1B, but 8 games into the season he was hitting .192/.323/.231. Detroit was determined to avoid another 100-loss season at all costs, so they installed Thompson at 1B, less than a year after being drafted out of college. At his peak (1980-82) he had a 145 OPS+; at his best he was only all-star, not superstar, quality (zero Black Ink) and for too brief a time.

When Sparky Anderson became Detroit manager in June 1979 it seemed to adversely impact Thompson's career. Sparky's doghouse had a large kennel; if you didn't conform to his idea of what a Big Leaguer should be, you were gone. Apparently, Jason (and Steve Kemp, and others) was what they used to call a "clubhouse lawyer", independent-thinking team leaders. Sparky was fond of the phrase, "my way or the highway", and sent many-a-player packing if they weren't buying what he was preaching. College men from California tended to not fit the mold. After struggling under manager Anderson for a year, Thompson was peddled for the immortal Al Cowens.