Moe Thacker

Morris Benton Thacker

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 210 lb.
• High School DuPont Manual High School
• Debut April 20, 1958
• Final Game July 14, 1963
• Born May 21, 1934 in Louisville, KY USA
• Died November 13, 1997 in Louisville, KY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Moe Thacker was another of the many players who began their careers in the New York Yankees organization who reached the big leagues with a different team. Signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees in 1952, the young catcher made it as high as the American Association with the Denver Bears in 1956 and the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association in 1957, where he hit .240 while catching 136 games. All that got him was being traded to the Chicago Cubs.

Thacker debuted in the majors on April 20, 1958, homering in his first game at Wrigley Field but he injured his knee and saw action in only 11 games before being sent down to the Fort Worth Cats in the Texas League to heal up. He finished out 1958 with Fort Worth, where he had 7 homers in 88 games and hit for a .293 average, his highest in the minor leagues up to that point. He stayed with Fort Worth in 1959, although he hit only .233 with 8 homers in 134 contests.

1960 saw Thacker at Wrigley Field again, where he appeared in 54 games, hitting .156. He spent the rest of the season with the Houston Buffs of the American Association, where he hit .356 in only 10 games. 1961 and 1962 were almost a duplicate of 1959 and 1960 and the Cubs traded Moe to the St. Louis Cardinals after the 1962 season. The Cardinals used Moe in three games in 1963 and sent him to the Atlanta Crackers for the rest of the year, where he appeared in 36 games and hit .229. He also suited up for 14 outings with the Jacksonville Suns in 1963, hitting .154. He decided to close out his 12-year pro baseball career at age 30 with a .177 career average in the majors and a .239 average in the minor leagues.

After baseball, Moe went on to manage a chain of Long John Silver Seafood establishments in his hometown of Louisville, KY, where he died on November 13, 1997, at age 63.

Sources

Baseball Players of the 1950s
BR Minors page