A Different Kind of Phillies Hero
And, news as spring training gets underway in earnest.
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
. . . Over 500 major league ballplayers served in World War II.
. . . The first MLB regular to be drafted during the war—but before the United States entered it—was Phillies pitcher Hugh “Losing Pitcher” Mulcahy, who was inducted into the Army on 8 March 1941.
. . . Baseball in Wartime lists two major leaguers killed in action during World War II: outfielder Elmer Gedeon (Army Air Force; France, 20 April 1944) and catcher Harry O’Neill (Marine Corps; Iwo Jima, 6 March 1945).
. . . One major league umpire served and was decorated: Nestor Chylak (Army; Europe, 1945), awarded the Silver Star, the third-highest American decoration for valor in combat.
Leading Off
A Different Kind of Hero
That would be Jocko Thompson, Phillies pitcher
By Russ Walsh
The year 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies “Whiz Kids” National League pennant winning year. The young team was full of rising stars like Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Del Ennis, Granny Hamner, Willie “Puddin’ Head” Jones and others. Many sportswriters predicted the Phillies to be serious pennant contenders for the first time in decades, especially if they could get some more pitching.
Manager Eddie Sawyer was hoping that a not-so-young, 33-year-old lefthanded pitcher with a Warren Spahn-like leg kick named John “Jocko” Thompson might help. Like many of his contemporaries, he had his professional baseball career interrupted by World War II, losing four prime years while in the service. And while Thompson never became a big time hero on the baseball field, from 1942-45 he established himself as a significant war hero.
As Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts put it in his book, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant, “We understood that Jocko carried around a considerable amount of shrapnel in his body.”
A native of Massachusetts, Thompson played college ball for Northeastern University in Boston, before being signed by the Boston Red Sox. After two solid years (1940-41) in the Red Sox minor league system, he volunteered for military service immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
He became a paratrooper and officer in the 82nd Airborne Division and led a series of parachute combat missions during raids on Anzio, Sicily, and Salerno in Italy. As the Allies continued the march toward Germany, he led paratrooper raids in Nazi occupied Holland.
On September 17, 1944, now-Lieutenant Thompson and his 16-man platoon were dropped into Grave, Netherlands, as part of Operation Market Garden. Their mission was to take a key bridge over the Maas River near Grave. Dropped only 600 feet from the target, and within earshot of German gunfire, Thompson was unsure to attack with his small platoon or wait for reinforcements.
“Since [the bridge] was our primary mission”, he later said, “I decided to attack.”
The outmanned platoon managed to take out heavily armed German machine gun installments and seize the bridge. They then held the bridge against a German counterattack until reinforcements arrived. For his efforts that day, Thompson received a field promotion to captain and later served as an aide to General James M. Gavin.
After the war, the pitcher returned to the Red Sox minor league organization at Toronto. The Phillies acquired him when they took over the Toronto franchise. At age 31, Thompson made his major league debut for the Phillies on September 21, 1948. He pitched a five-hitter, beating the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.
He was up and down between the Phillies and Toronto in 1949, appearing in just eight games with the big club, but he was 14-5, 2.73 at Toronto, giving the Phillies hope he might help them in 1950. But a mediocre spring led to him being sent back to Toronto on May 2 after pitching just one inning of relief for the Phillies.
Thompson struggled in Toronto as well, where he went 10-14 with a 4.57 ERA. Recalled by the Phillies at the end of the season, when star lefty Curt Simmons was called up to active military duty, Thompson made just one appearance and did not make the post-season roster.
The knock on Thompson was his lack of major league level control. He averaged almost four walks per nine innings throughout his major and minor league career. With Simmons still in the service during the 1951 season, however, Thompson became the new Phillies lefthanded starter. He was not awful, although control issues continued to plague him as he walked 17 batters in his first four starts.
On June 1, he walked seven St. Louis Cardinals, but still managed to win the game, 7-3, with an inning of relief help from Jim Konstanty. On July 17, Thompson pitched the finest game of his major league career, a 10-0 shutout of the Cincinnati Reds. He allowed six hits, struck out nine, and, perhaps most surprisingly, walked none.
The Whiz Kids of 1950, however, were the Fizz Kids of 1951, when they fell to fifth place in the National League with a 73-81 record. Thompson finished the year with a 4-8 record and 3.85 ERA. It would be his final year in the major leagues. He pitched four more years in Triple-A, first at Baltimore and then Richmond, before finally hanging up his spikes in 1956 at age 38.
After baseball, Thompson returned to the Boston area and went into the wholesale grocery business. He later moved to the Washington, DC area.
While he didn’t win any medals on the major league baseball field, Thompson’s military record showed him receiving the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts. He also received decorations for valor from the French, Dutch, and Belgian governments.
On September 17, 2004, sixty years after the battle at the bridge in Grave, and sixteen years after Thompson’s death, the people of Grave held a ceremony renaming that bridge the John S. Thompson Bridge. His widow and many veterans of the war were in attendance. His legacy as a war hero was assured for the ages.
References:
Gary Bedingfield, Baseball in Wartime: “Baseball in Wartime - Jocko Thompson.” Retrieved February 15, 2025.
Jocko Thompson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More: Baseball Reference. Retrieved on February 15, 2025.
Robin Roberts and C. P. Rogers, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1996.
Clayton Trudor, “Jocko Thompson.” Society for American Baseball Research, retrieved on February 15, 2025.
Russ Walsh is a retired teacher, baseball coach, and writer living in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He is a lifelong and long-suffering Philadelphia Phillies fan. He writes for the Society for American Baseball Research and for his blog The Faith of a Phillies Fan. You can contact him through BlueSky @russ47.bsky.social.
Cleaning Up
Meanwhile, Back in the Jungle . . .
Compiled by Jeff Kallman
Two Strikes Dept.—Bad enough: the Blue Jays unable to land a major free agent this off-season. Worse, so far: They’ve failed to secure four-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. to a long-term contract extension.
The son of Hall of Fame right fielder Vladimir Guerrero, Sr. came to spring training camp Tuesday saying he had no intention of negotiating during the season. He also said, according to several reports, “They had their numbers. I have my numbers.”
Though Berra’s Law (it ain’t over until it’s over) has yet to be repealed, both sides seemed to dig in further as the camp opened.
Guerrero: I want to be a Blue Jay for the rest of my career. But it’s free agency, it’s business, and I’m going to have to listen to 29 more teams and they’re going to have to compete for that. Jays president Mark Shaprio: There’s no such thing as close or not close. There’s done or not done.
He’s on Third? We’re Not Talking About Him Dept.—It’s not that Rafael Devers objected to his Red Sox signing free agent infielder Alex Bregman. It’s that he has no intention of moving off third base if he can help it, to step up as a designated hitter or otherwise: Like I’ve been saying, it’s my position and I’m not just going to change on a whim.
The Red Sox may have ammunition on their side, though: Last year, despite a slightly below career average season at the plate, Bregman was the American League’s most run-preventive third baseman. (+12 above the AL average.) Devers, who had a slightly better 2024 at the plate, was -2 below the AL average for third base run prevention, and it leaves him at -80 for his career to date. (Bregman, career at 3B: +28.)
All You Had to Do Was Ask First Dept.—A few years ago, then-Angels manager Joe Maddon stepped in it when saying the team was pondering whether future Hall of Famer Mike Trout would move off center field for his health’s sake.
The problem: Maddon told it to the baseball press before anyone in the organisation bothered to take it to Trout. He saw it in the press along with the rest of baseball world. And he deserved far better treatment than that.
That was then, this is now: The Angels took it to Trout first this time around, and the eleven-time All-Star is agreeing to shift to right field and consider time at the DH slot, the better to secure some more, serious injury prevention.
It won’t put a postseason into the Angels’ bank, unfortunately. Their administration from the owner down isn’t that sharp. But it might give Angel fans something slightly more than groans to look forward to when Trout is announced in the game lineups.
One is the Onliest Number Dept.—Would you like to know how many more strikeouts than walks Guardians left fielder/ignition switch Steven Kwan has in his career to date? One. (Ks: 186. BBs: 185.) Which fits, considering his 162 game average so far is 71 Ks and 70 BBs.
Extra Innings
They Said It, We Didn’t . . .
I'm super excited to just be his teammate, He's a great player. I think everyone in this clubhouse is worried about winning. Whatever it takes to help the team win, that's all I'm focused on.—Alex Bregman, the new Red Sox third baseman. (Or, second baseman, possibly, maybe, perhaps . . . )
Devers has secured his monster contract and that money isn't going anywhere. Signing Bregman and playing him at third base is the best move for the Red Sox as a team, so why not just do what is best for the team?—Matt Snyder, CBS Sports.
What ultimately secured Boston's winter coup for the ex-leader of the Astros' Golden Era? Bregman highlighted the recruitment effort from former Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia. "My favorite player, Dustin Pedroia," Bregman said when asked who had the biggest impact on his free-agent decision . . . Bregman's days of MVP consideration are over. His extended free-agent wait came, in part, due to concerns over his aging curve as a hitter. Boston wasn't scared off, and given the current composition of their roster, I suspect their winter spending will pay dividends this fall.—Michael Shapiro, Houston Chronicle.
Hurricane Milton wrecked the Tampa Bay Rays' ballpark last fall, leaving them without a stadium. For this season, they will play their home games in the Yankees' spring training facility, which has a capacity in the range of 11,000 fans.
And yet the Rays have outspent the Chicago Cubs in free agency this winter . . . Despite the fact that the Cubs are playing in baseball's land of opportunity, the incredibly weak NL Central, they've given no indication that winning is actually a priority. Making money seems to be the modus operandi.—Buster Olney, ESPN.com.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.