Jason Thompson (thompja01)

From BR Bullpen

Jason Dolph Thompson

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 6' 3", Weight 210 lb.
High School Apple Valley High School
School California State University, Northridge
Debut April 23, 1976
Final Game June 23, 1986
Born July 6, 1954 in Hollywood, CA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

A big left-handed hitter with power, Jason Thompson hit 31 homers for the 1977 Detroit Tigers and later hit 31 homers in the other league for the 1982 Pittsburgh Pirates.

Thompson was born in 1954 in Hollywood, CA, in the same year and the same place as Craig Cacek. Thompson went to California State University, Northridge during 1973-75, and was there at the same time as Gil Kubski. After being drafted in the fourth round in 1975 by the Tigers, he was a regular for most of 1976, showing some power and drawing walks well although he hit only .218.

After four years with Detroit and part of a fifth, he was traded to the 1980 Angels, for whom he hit .317 and slugged .526 for the remainder of the season. He was traded to the 1981 Pirates just prior to the start of the 1981 season and spent five years with the Pirates. He finished his career with the 1986 Expos.

Thompson played first base almost exclusively, except in 1980 when the Angels used him some at DH.

Thompson was named to three All-Star teams. While he was never in the top ten in the MVP voting, he was in the top ten in homers three times and twice was second in the league in walks.

The similarity scores method lists the most similar player as Joe Pepitone, although Thompson has a much higher Adjusted OPS+.