Former Phillie Frank Thomas, slugger of the ‘50s and ‘60s, dies at 93

Frank Thomas, 93, who had a brief and tumultuous stint with the Phillies near the end of a 16-year major-league career in which he hit 286 home runs, died Monday, Jan. 16, at his home near Pittsburgh, two of his former teams confirmed. No cause of death was given.

Mr. Thomas was born in Pittsburgh and spent his first eight seasons with his hometown Pirates, making the All-Star team in 1954, 1955, and 1958. A righthanded-hitting outfielder who later moved to first base, he was a member of the first New York Mets team in history, in 1962, and also played for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Braves, and Houston Astros.

The Phillies acquired Mr. Thomas midway through the 1964 season in a three-player trade with the Mets. It was the first time in 14 seasons that he played for a pennant contender, with the Phillies holding a 1½-game lead that grew to a high-water mark of 7½ games on Aug. 23. And in his first 33 games with the team, Mr. Thomas batted .302 with seven home runs and an .864 on-base plus slugging percentage.

But Mr. Thomas broke his right thumb on a slide into second base on Sept. 8 and missed 16 games. Upon his return on Sept. 25, in the midst of a 10-game losing streak, the Phillies’ lead dwindled to 1½ games. They fell out of first place two days later and finished one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mr. Thomas returned to the Phillies in 1965 but got released in July, the fallout from a fight with the late Dick Allen near the batting cage before a July 3 game at Connie Mack Stadium.

Accounts of the altercation varied over the years. Mike Tollin, a filmmaker from Havertown who became friends with Allen and spent years working on a documentary about him, interviewed players and sportswriters who said Allen objected to a racial comment from Mr. Thomas, who once described himself to late Daily News columnist Stan Hochman as a “big needler.” Mr. Thomas contended Allen sucker-punched him; Allen, who died in 2021, always denied that charge.

Whatever the case, Mr. Thomas swung his bat and struck Allen in the shoulder. Later that night, after hitting a game-tying pinch homer in the eighth inning, Mr. Thomas was told by manager Gene Mauch that he was being released.

“I see him coming through the [bathroom] mirror, and he takes me upstairs to the trainer’s room and he says, ‘We just put you on irrevocable waivers,’” Mr. Thomas told Tollin. “I said to him, ‘Gene, if you’re doing that to me, you’re being very unfair.’ He said. ‘You’re 35 and he’s 23.’ And that was the extent of the conversation.”

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The Astros picked up Mr. Thomas but traded him to the Braves late in the season. He played five games for the Cubs in 1966 before retiring.

Mr. Thomas batted .266/.320/.454 for his career and had 1,671 hits and 962 RBIs in 1,766 games. He finished fourth in the National League MVP voting in 1958.

In one of his last public appearances, Mr. Thomas attended the Mets’ Old Timers’ Day at Citi Field in August.

“I’m so thankful that my dad was able to go to Old Timers’ Day,” Thomas’ daughter Maryanne Pacconi said in a statement from the Mets. “It meant the world to him to see his old teammates. I was thrilled with how the fans greeted him. I was so happy to see him in uniform again. We will treasure those memories forever.”

Mr. Thomas was preceded in death by his wife, Dolores, and daughter Sharon. He is survived by seven children: Joanne Harrison, Patty Cain, Frankie Thomas, Peter Thomas, Maryanne Pacconi, Paul Thomas, and Mark Thomas.

Services were pending.