Bob Thorpe (thorpbo01)

Benjamin Robert Thorpe, Jr.
also known as Ben Thorpe

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1½", *Weight 190 lb.

• Debut April 19, 1951
• Final Game September 27, 1953
• Born November 19, 1926 in Caryville, FL USA
• Died October 30, 1996 in Waveland, MS USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bob Thorpe was an outfielder for 16 years (1946-1961); three in the Majors (1951-1953) and 14 in the minors (1946-1951 and 1954-1961). He was born on November 19, 1926, in Caryville, FL. He graduated from high school, where he starred in baseball, basketball and football, in 1944 at age 17. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II (BN). The only reference to his being a WW2 veteran in The Sporting News of February 2, 1952 when they reported that he weighed 230 lb. when discharged from the service. His playing weight then was 185 lb. (TSN 7/23/47).

Signed as an amateur free agent in 1946, he broke into Organized Baseball at age 19 with the West Palm Beach Indians in the Florida International League; Gainesville in the Class D Florida State League (1946-1947); and the Pensacola Fliers of the Southeastern League (1948-1949). He married Kathleen Goodbread on July 7, 1948. Before the 1950 season, he was sent from Pensacola to the Boston Braves and played for the Atlanta Crackers in the Southern Association in 1950 and the Milwaukee Brewers in the American Association in 1951.

When Bob Thorpe began his career in Organized Baseball in 1946 he went by "Ben Thorpe". By the time he made his major league debut with the Braves in 1951 he was called "Bob Thorpe". Thorpe was 24 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 19, 1951, with the Braves. He is on a short list of people with one triple for their only hit in the first season in which they batted safely. In 1952, he tied a major league record with two doubles in an inning. He played in 110 games as an outfielder through 1953 when the Braves moved to Milwaukee, where he played his final major league game on September 27, 1953 at age 26.

He returned to the minors with the 1954 Toledo Mud Hens and the Atlanta Crackers (1955-1956). In an exhibition game on April 1, 1955, the Crackers scored four runs in the last of the 9th to beat the New York Yankees, 5-4, at Ponce de Leon Park. Casey Stengel had hoped to go the distance with Whitey Ford, but he pulled him in favor of Don Larsen with the bases loaded, two out, and the Yankees leading, 4-3. Larsen threw one pitch, which Thorpe hit for a 400-foot double to bring in the tying and winning runs.

He continued on in 1956 with the Wichita Braves. On December 3rd he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers from Milwaukee in the 1956 minor league draft. He played for the Charleston Senators in 1957 when he was traded by the Tigers to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Herb Moford on July 14th, finishing the season with the Omaha Cardinals.

He then played for the Birmingham Barons (1958); the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League (1958); the Denver Bears (1959); the Columbus Jets of the International League (1959); and the Little Rock Travelers (1960-1961); ending his baseball career at age 34.

In 1952, his best year in the big leagues, he had 76 hits, 20 runs, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 26 RBI and 3 stolen bases for a batting line of .260/.275/.332 in 81 games. In 1948, his best year in the minors, he had 175 hits, 111 runs, 16 doubles, 14 triples, 16 home runs and 107 RBI at .310 in 135 games. Overall in the majors, he had 83 hits, 22 runs, 9 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 32 RBI and 3 stolen bases for a batting line of .251/.266/.323 in 110 games. Overall in the minors, he had 212 home runs and 1102 RBI.

He owned Captain Bob's Seafood and Emerald Lawn Care in Waveland, MS. He had brown hair and blue eyes, his ancestry was German-Irish-Indian and his principal hobby was golf. He died at age 68 in Waveland on October 30, 1996 and is buried at Gulf Pines Memorial Park in Englewood, FL.

Records Held

• Tied major-league record with two doubles in an inning, 1952

Career Highlights

• Led Florida State League in at bats (552), hits (153) and home runs (10), 1947
• Led Southeastern League in triples (14), 1948
• Led Southeastern League in at bats (546) and doubles (36), 1949
• Led Southern Association in hits (195), 1950
• Led Southern Association outfielders in errors (15), 1950

Sources

Principal sources for Bob Thorpe (thorpbo01) include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (none) (WW), old Baseball Registers (none) (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN (none) (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) ; The Texas League in Baseball, 1888-1958 by Marshall D. Wright; The Southern Association in Baseball, 1885-1961 by Marshall D. Wright; The International League: Year-by-year Statistics, 1884-1953 by Marshall D. Wright; The American Association: Year-By-Year Statistics for the Baseball Minor League, 1902-1952 by Marshall D. Wright; and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

• Bob Thorpe on Retrosheet
• Bob Thorpe at the Baseball Almanac
• Bio at Baseball Page
• The Baseball Chronology for Bob Thorpe
• 1949 Pensacola Fliers
• and a full Bibliography from SABR's The Baseball Index (TBI)