Great story Kevin. It sounds like Hank.
Hank really hit his stride in 1947. The 21-year-old was hitting around .340 as the Monarchs’ shortstop when his contract was purchased by the St. Louis Browns in mid-July.
On Opening Day of the 1947 season, Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers had crossed Major League Baseball’s color line and set National League turnstiles humming wherever he played. Almost three months later, former Newark Eagles star Larry Doby broke the American League color barrier, prompting the Browns, mired in last place and drawing more flies than fans, to try to capitalize on the novelty of Negro players. The Browns reportedly purchased the contracts of Thompson and the veteran outfielder Willard Brown, one of the biggest names in the Negro Leagues, from the Monarchs on a conditional basis for a mere $5,000. Immediately plugged into the Browns lineup, Thompson played second base and batted seventh, going hitless in four at-bats and contributing an error to a 16-2 whipping by the visiting Philadelphia Athletics.
Despite a cool reception by the St. Louis players, Thompson performed adequately for the woeful Browns. His .256 batting average and .341 on-base average in 27 games both exceeded the team norm. Yet the Browns shipped him and Brown (who hit only .179 in 21 games) back to Kansas City in late August rather than pony up another $5,000 to retain their services.
Thompson finished his fragmented 1947 campaign hitting .344 and scoring 54 runs in 48 games for the Monarchs. With future major leaguers Curt Roberts and Gene Baker manning the keystone spots for the Monarchs in 1948, Hank moved to the outfield and hit a phenomenal .375 in 70 games, according to The Negro Leagues Book, while scoring 75 runs and driving in 58. He also began displaying good power, finishing with 11 homers and an imposing .633 slugging average. Hank is sometimes credited with leading the Negro American League that year with 20 stolen bases, but other references indicate that Sam Jethroe stole 29 for the Cleveland Buckeyes before his contract was purchased by the Brooklyn Dodgers during the season.
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