Danny Thompson (baseball)
| Danny Thompson | |||
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| Shortstop | |||
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Born: February 1, 1947 Wichita, Kansas |
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Died: December 10, 1976 (aged 29) Rochester, Minnesota |
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| MLB debut | |||
| June 25, 1970, for the Minnesota Twins | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 2, 1976, for the Texas Rangers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .248 | ||
| Home Runs | 15 | ||
| Runs batted in | 194 | ||
| Teams | |||
Danny Leon Thompson (February 1, 1947 – December 10, 1976) was a college and professional baseball player, a major league shortstop from 1970 to 1976. Diagnosed with leukemia in early 1973 at age 26, he played four more seasons in the majors and died just ten weeks after his final game.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, Thompson grew up in tiny Capron, Oklahoma, and played college baseball at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, where he was an All-American. He was the first pick of the Minnesota Twins in the secondary phase of the 1968 amateur draft.
Thompson broke into the majors with the Twins in 1970 and had his first full season in 1972; he played for them until June 1976, when he and pitcher Bert Blyleven were traded to the Texas Rangers for four others in a six-player deal.
Following a routine pre-season physical the day before his 26th birthday, Thompson was called in for additional tests and diagnosed with granulocytic leukemia in early February 1973, but he continued his major league career for the next four seasons. He was awarded baseball's annual Hutch Award in Seattle following the 1974 season, and batted .270 in 1975, leading all American League shortstops.
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