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{{Short description|Canadian football, baseball, and basketball player}}
⚫
{{infobox athlete
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}
⚫
{{infobox sportsperson
| name = Fred Thomas
| name = Fred Thomas
| image = Fred Thomas.png
| image = Fred Thomas-en.png
| birth_date = {{birth-date|December 26, 1923}}{{r|wec}}
| birth_date = {{birth-date|December 26, 1923}}{{r|wec}}
| birth_place = [[Windsor, Ontario]], Canada
| birth_place = [[Windsor, Ontario]], Canada
| death_date = {{death-date and age|May 20, 1981|December 26, 1923}}{{r|wec}}
| death_date = {{death-date and age|May 20, 1981|December 26, 1923}}{{r|wec}}
| death_place = [[Toronto, Ontario]]
⚫
| height = 6ft 3in
| resting_place = Windsor, Ontario
⚫
| weight = 175 lb
⚫
| height = 6ft 3in{{r|tvo}}
⚫
| weight = 175 lb{{r|tvo}}
| sport = Basketball, Baseball, Football
| sport = Basketball, Baseball, Football
|education = [[Assumption College]], BA 1949
| education = [[Assumption University (Windsor, Ontario)|Assumption College]], BA 1949
| module = {{infobox baseball biography
| embed = yes
| position = [[Outfielder]]
| bats = Left
| throws = Unknown
| hofcolor= #EC1C40
| hoflink= Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
| hoftype= Canadian
| hofdate= 2021
}}
}}
}}
'''Fred Thomas''' (born December 26, 1923) was a Canadian multi-sport professional athlete. He played baseball, football, but is best known as one of Canada's finest basketball players. A 2019 profile by [[TV Ontario]] called him the "The greatest Canadian athlete you’ve never heard of".{{r|tvo}}
'''Fred Thomas''' (December 26, 1923 – May 20, 1981) was a Canadian multi-sport professional athlete. He played on semi-professional or professional teams in basketball, baseball, and Canadian football. He was a standout on his college basketball team and is known as one of Canada's finest basketball players. A 2019 profile by [[TVOntario]] described Thomas as "the greatest Canadian athlete you've never heard of".{{r|tvo}} He would likely have been more well-known had blacks not been denied opportunities to compete in major professional sports leagues in the 1940s and 1950s.


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
Thomas grew up in [[Windsor, Ontario]], Canada. He is a fifth-generation Canadian whose ancestry can be traced to fugitive slaves in [[North Carolina]] and [[Barbados|Barbadian]] immigrants.{{r|abf}} His parents were Charles Fred Thomas and Edith May Thomas. He had seven siblings; one brother and six sisters.{{efn|One source says five sisters{{r|abf}}}}{{r|wm}} He was the second oldest and his athletic prowess let him excel at many sports. He attended high school at the [[J. C. Patterson Collegiate Institute]] in Windsor, beginning in the late 1930s.{{r|tvo}} He was a [[Gridiron football|football]] and [[track and field|track]] star there, competing in [[hurdles]], [[high jump]], [[sprinting|sprints]], [[long jump]] and [[triple jump]].{{r|wec}} He also led the [[basketball]] team to a [[Canadian province|province]] championship, beating [[Ottawa Glebe Collegiate]] in [[Toronto]] for the All-Ontario Basketball Title.{{r|wec}}
Thomas grew up in [[Windsor, Ontario]], Canada. He was a fifth-generation Canadian whose ancestry can be traced to enslaved Africans fleeing [[North Carolina]] and [[Barbados|Barbadian]] immigrants.{{r|abf}} His parents were Charles Fred Thomas and Edith May Thomas. He had seven siblings; one brother and six sisters.{{efn|One source says five sisters{{r|abf}}}}{{r|wm}} He was the second oldest and his athletic prowess let him excel at many sports. He attended high school at the [[J. C. Patterson Collegiate Institute]] in Windsor, beginning in the late 1930s.{{r|tvo}} He was a [[Gridiron football|football]] and [[track and field|track]] star there, competing in [[hurdles]], [[high jump]], [[sprinting|sprints]], [[long jump]] and [[triple jump]].{{r|wec}} He also led the [[basketball]] team to a provincial championship, beating [[Ottawa Glebe Collegiate]] in [[Toronto]] for the All-Ontario Basketball Title.{{r|wec}}


He graduated in 1943 and then enlisted in the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]]. He earned his [[wings]] shortly before the end of [[World War II|the war]]. After being discharged from the service, he enrolled at [[Assumption College]] where he became known as one of the country's best basketball players.{{r|tvo}} He played four years under coach [[Stanley Nantais]].{{r|ws}}
He graduated in 1943 and then enlisted in the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]]. He earned his [[Aircrew brevet|wings]] shortly before the end of [[World War II]]. After being discharged from the service, he enrolled at [[Assumption University (Windsor, Ontario)|Assumption College]] where he became known as one of the country's best basketball players.{{r|tvo}} He played four years under coach [[Stanley Nantais]].{{r|ws}}


In 1945, the [[Harlem Globetrotters]], who were "widely considered the best team in the world",{{r|tvo}} were defeated by the Assumption basketball team 49-45.{{r|ws}} A 1952 newspaper article said Thomas "was a constant thorn in the side of his visitors” and "His terrific speed enabling him to leap high into the air after burning down the floor to break up passing plays. His performance was amazing and the most amazed were the confused Globetrotters."{{r|tvo}}
In 1945, the [[Harlem Globetrotters]], who were "widely considered the best team in the world",{{r|tvo}} were defeated by the Assumption basketball team 49–45.{{r|ws}} A 1952 newspaper article said Thomas "was a constant thorn in the side of his visitors" and "His terrific speed enabling him to leap high into the air after burning down the floor to break up passing plays. His performance was amazing and the most amazed were the confused Globetrotters."{{r|tvo}}


In 1949, his senior year, he led the team to the Ontario Senior Men's Finals where they defeated Toronto Central by 90-56, 47 of which he scored himself. At the time, the ''[[Toronto Globe and Mail]]'' called him the "best Negro athlete in Canada."{{r|sc}} During Thomas's college four-year basketball career (1945-1949), he scored 2,059 points, third highest on the [[NCAA]] scoring list at the time of his graduation.{{r|tvo}} This includes a record 639 points in the 48-49 season.{{r|abf}} His time at Assumption were know at the "Thomistic Era". The 1952 newspaper article summarized his college basketball career by saying "There was probably never a Canadian basketball player who so dominated the key area and was so deadly with the hook shot as Fred. He played the game with the grace of a swan and the agility of a gazelle."{{r|tvo}}
In 1949, his senior year, he led the team to the Ontario Senior Men's Finals where they defeated Toronto Central by 90–56, 47 of which he scored himself. At the time, the ''[[Toronto Globe and Mail]]'' called him the "best Negro athlete in Canada".{{r|sc}} During Thomas's college four-year basketball career (1945–1949), he scored 2,059 points, the third-highest on the [[NCAA]] scoring list at the time of his graduation.{{r|tvo}} This includes a record 639 points in the 1948–49 season.{{r|abf}} His time at Assumption was known as the "Thomistic Era". The 1952 newspaper article summarized his college basketball career by saying "There was probably never a Canadian basketball player who so dominated the key area and was so deadly with the hook shot as Fred. He played the game with the grace of a swan and the agility of a gazelle."{{r|tvo}}


==Baseball==
==Baseball==

⚫
Outside of college, Thomas turned to baseball. He played with the [[negro league]] [[Detroit Senators]] in 1947 and [[Farnham Pirates]] in 1948 in the [[Quebec Provincial League]]. Over 58 games with Farnham, he was batting .351 which caught the attention of [[Major League Baseball]] scouts.{{r|cbn}} He was selected by the organization's [[Cleveland Indians]] to join the [[Wilkes-Barre (minor league baseball club)|Wilkes-Barre Barons]] [[farm-team]] who played in the [[Eastern League (baseball)|Eastern League]], where he took the field for the first time in a July 4, 1948 doubleheader. This appearance was the first by a black player in the league, and he had two singles, and RBI, and a stolen base in the second game.{{r|tvo}} He broke the [[color barrier]] in this league about a year after [[Jackie Robinson]] did so in [[Major League Baseball]].{{r|wec}} The was the 21st black player to sign a contract with a team in the MLB organization and the first from Canada.{{r|sc}} Thomas played 12 games with the Barons in 1949 but never played professional baseball again.{{r|cbn}}
[[File:Fred-Thomas-1952.jpg|thumb|alt=Fred Thomas in a baseball dugout wearing a Kitchener Panthers uniform.|Thomas (1952) in a Kitchener Panthers uniform.]]
⚫
Outside of college, Thomas turned to baseball. He played with the [[Negro league baseball|Negro league]]'s [[Cincinnati Crescents]] in 1946, the [[Detroit Senators]] in 1947, and the [[Farnham Pirates]] in 1948 in the [[Quebec Provincial League]]. Over 58 games with Farnham, he was batting .351 which caught the attention of [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) scouts.{{r|cbn}} He was selected by the organization's [[Cleveland Indians]] to join the [[Wilkes-Barre (minor league baseball club)|Wilkes-Barre Barons]] [[farm-team]] who played in the [[Eastern League (1938–2020)|Eastern League]], where he took the field for the first time in a July 4, 1948, doubleheader. This appearance was the first by a black player in the league, and he had two singles, and RBI, and a stolen base in the second game.{{r|tvo}} He broke the [[colour barrier]] in this league about a year after [[Jackie Robinson]] did so in [[Major League Baseball]].{{r|wec}} He was the 21st black player to sign a contract with a team in the MLB organization and the first from Canada.{{r|sc}} Thomas played 12 games with the Barons in 1949 but never played professional baseball again.{{r|cbn}}

Thomas spent the early 1950s playing in Ontario's [[Intercounty Baseball League]].<ref name="CBHFBio" /> During the 1951 season, he won the league batting title as a member of the [[Kitchener Panthers]].<ref name="tvo" /> The same year he was named the league's [[Most Valuable Player]], with a batting average of 0.383.{{r|wec}} In addition to his time with the Panthers, he played fastball for the [[Windsor Jets]] and [[Toronto Beaches (baseball)|Toronto Beaches]].{{r|wec}}


==Globetrotters==
==Globetrotters==
His race prevented him from playing in the professional basketball leagues. He played with the [[Cincinnati Crescents]], a negro all-star [[barnstorm (sports)|barnstorming]] team owned by [[Abe Saperstein]], who also owned the Harlem Globetrotters. This connection brought him to the Globetrotters and he was invited to the their [[training camp]] in [[Chicago]] in 1949. He arrived late because he had to finish the [[Canadian football|football]] season with the [[Toronto Argonauts]] of the [[Canadian Football League]]. He played a season for the [[New York Renaissance]], a Globetrotter all-black professional basketball team from [[Harlem, New York]]. After one season, he moved to the western division [[Kansas City Stars]], another Gobetrotter team.{{r|tvo}}
Racism prevented Thomas from playing in the professional basketball leagues.{{clarify|date=January 2021}} He played with the [[Cincinnati Crescents]], a negro all-star [[barnstorm (sports)|barnstorming]] baseball team owned by [[Abe Saperstein]], who also owned the Harlem Globetrotters. This connection brought him to the Globetrotters and he was invited to their [[training camp]] in [[Chicago]] in 1949. He arrived late because he had to finish the [[Canadian football|football]] season with the [[Toronto Argonauts]]{{r|tvo}} of the [[Canadian Football League]] where he was the second Black player and first Black Canadian player.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hutzul |first1=Tim |title=FRED THOMAS: CANADA'S FORGOTTEN LEGEND |url=https://www.basketball.ca/news/fred-thomas-canadas-forgotten-legend#:~:text=If%20all%20of%20his%20basketball,years%20after%20the%20teams%20founding). |website=FRED THOMAS: CANADA'S FORGOTTEN LEGEND |publisher=Canada Basketball |access-date=June 22, 2023}}</ref> He played a season for the [[New York Renaissance]], a Globetrotter all-black professional basketball team from [[Harlem, New York]]. After one season, he moved to the western division [[Kansas City Stars]], another Globetrotter team.{{r|tvo}}


==Later life==
==Later life==
⚫
In 1952, he was not selected for the [[1952 Summer Olympics|Canadian Olympic]] basketball team, where he would have been the only black on an otherwise all-white team.{{r|ws}} After having surgery to repair a knee injury, he could no longer play professional sports but continued to play in smaller independent leagues in Canada. He played basketball for the [[Toronto Tri-Bells]], a Canadian men's amateur team,{{r|wec}} leading the team to the 1953 Canadian senior men's basketball title.{{r|sc}}


Following his athletic career, Thomas became a coach and [[physical education]] teacher. He joined the staff of [[Valley Park High School (Toronto)|Valley Park High School]] in [[East York, Ontario]] in 1970, where he worked until his death.{{r|tvo|abf}}<ref name="WSThomasDead">{{cite news |title=Freddit Thomas dead at 57 |work=The Windsor Star |date=21 May 1981 |page=33}}</ref>
He won the [[batting title]] of the Ontario [[Intercounty Baseball League]] in 1951 while playing for the [[Kitchener Panthers]], an [[Independent baseball|independent]], [[semi-professional]] team where he batted 0.383. and was a [[Most Valuable Player]] in this league.{{r|wec}} He also played for the [[Windsor Jets]] and [[Toronto Beaches (baseball)|Toronto Beaches]].


Thomas died on May 20, 1981 in Toronto.<ref name="CBHFBio" /><ref name="WSObit">{{cite news |title=Thomas, Fred S. |work=The Windsor Star |date=21 May 1981 |page=58}}</ref> He was buried in Windsor's Greenlawn Memorial Gardens.<ref name="WSThomasDead" />
⚫
In 1952, he was not selected for the Canadian Olympic basketball team. where he would have been the only black on an otherwise all-white team.{{r|ws}} After having surgery to repair a knee injury, he could no longer play professional sports but continued to play in smaller independent leagues in Canada.
He played basketball for the [[Toronto Tri-Bells]], a Canadian men's amateur team,{{r|wec}} leading the team to the 1953 Canadian senior men's basketball title.{{r|sc}} He became a coach and [[physical education]] teacher at [[Valley Park High School]] in [[East York, Ontario]] for over twenty years.{{r|abf|tvo}}

Thomas died from cancer on May 20, 1981.{{r|wec}}


==Lack of recognition==
==Lack of recognition==


⚫
Thomas was known mostly in the Windsor area. He competed during a time of racism in sports just before the beginning of integration. According to [[William Humber]], a historian on Canadian sports, racial barriers prevented Thomas from becoming a national star, as well as kept him relatively unknown. "Today, he would have been a star in any of those sports" said Humber.{{r|tvo}}
Thomas known mostly in the Windsor area.
⚫
Thomas competed during a time of racism in sports just before the beginning of integration. According to William Humber, a historian on Canadian sports, racial barriers prevented Thomas from becoming a national star, as well as kept him relatively unknown. "Today, he would have been a star in any of those sports” said Humber.{{r|tvo}}


According to Miriam Wright, a history professor at the [[University of Windsor]], Southern Ontario was racially segregated like parts of the United States during the [[Jim Crow era]]. Thomas and his black teammates were often not served at restaurants and his teams were not allowed to compete with white teams. As a black, he did not have the same opportunities as whites. Wright says that Thomas's story is not well-known because "African-Canadian history was not something that was considered important or was only considered in the context of the [[Underground Railroad]] story.”{{r|tvo}}
According to Miriam Wright, a history professor at the [[University of Windsor]], Southern Ontario was racially segregated like parts of the United States during the [[Jim Crow era]]. Thomas and his black teammates were often not served at restaurants and his teams were not allowed to compete with white teams. As a black, he did not have the same opportunities as whites. Wright says that Thomas's story is not well known because "African-Canadian history was not something that was considered important or was only considered in the context of the [[Underground Railroad]] story."{{r|tvo}}

After decades of not being recognized, Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on November 16 2021.<ref name="CBHFBio">{{cite web |title=Fred Thomas |url=https://baseballhalloffame.ca/hall-of-famer/fred-thomas/ |website=Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum |access-date=27 July 2023 |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref name="Smith">{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Cory |title=Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2021 to be inducted virtually Nov. 16 |url=https://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/sports/local-sports/canadian-baseball-hall-of-fame-class-of-2021-to-be-inducted-virtually-nov-16 |access-date=27 July 2023 |date=4 November 2021}}</ref>


==Awards and honors==
==Awards and honors==
*Voted 2nd in a [[Canadian Press]] poll to determine Canada's finest basketball player of the 1900-1949.{{r|wec}}
*Voted second in a 1950 [[Canadian Press]] poll to determine Canada's finest basketball player of the 1900–1949 period.{{r|wec}}
*Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 1981){{r|wec}}
*Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 1981){{r|wec}}
*[[University of Windsor]] Alumni Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 1986){{r|wec}}
*[[University of Windsor]] Alumni Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 1986){{r|wec}}
*[[Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame]] (inducted 1994){{r|wec}}
*[[Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame]] (inducted 1994){{r|wec}}
*[[Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame]] (inducted 1995){{r|wec}}
*[[Canada Basketball|Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame]] (inducted 1995){{r|wec}}
*Fred Thomas Park (formerly Glengarry Park) in [[Windsor, Ontario]], is named after him.{{r|ws}}
*Fred Thomas Park (formerly Glengarry Park) in [[Windsor, Ontario]], is named after him.{{r|ws}}
*Nominated for the [[Canadian Sports Hall of Fame]]{{r|tvo}}
*Nominated for the [[Canadian Sports Hall of Fame]]{{r|tvo}}
*Honored during [[Black History Month]] at [[Windsor Express]] game, Feb 22, 2015{{r|cbc}}
*Honored during [[Black History Month]] at [[Windsor Express]] game, February 22, 2015{{r|cbc}}


==Notes==
==Notes==
Line 59: Line 76:
{{reflist|refs=
{{reflist|refs=


<ref name="wm">{{cite web |title=African Canadian Community / Fred Thomas |url=http://www.windsor-communities.com/african-sports-thomas.php |website=windsor-communities.com |accessdate=November 28, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="wm">{{cite web |title=African Canadian Community / Fred Thomas |url=http://www.windsor-communities.com/african-sports-thomas.php |website=windsor-communities.com |access-date=November 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530051839/http://www.windsor-communities.com/african-sports-thomas.php |archive-date=May 30, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name=tvo>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvo.org/article/the-greatest-canadian-athlete-youve-never-heard-of#|title=The Greatest Canadian athlete you've never heard of|last=Riches|first=Sam|date=July 11, 2019|website=tvo|access-date=July 17, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name=tvo>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvo.org/article/the-greatest-canadian-athlete-youve-never-heard-of#|title=The Greatest Canadian athlete you've never heard of|last=Riches|first=Sam|date=July 11, 2019|website=tvo|access-date=July 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716171208/https://www.tvo.org/article/the-greatest-canadian-athlete-youve-never-heard-of|archive-date=July 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>


<ref name=ws>{{Cite news|url=https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/tvo-piece-recalls-remarkable-career-of-windsors-fred-thomas|title=TVO recalls career of unheralded star athlete|last=Caton|first=Mary|date=July 17, 2019|website=windsorstar.com|publisher=Windsor Star|access-date=2019-11-27}}</ref>
<ref name=ws>{{Cite news|url=https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/tvo-piece-recalls-remarkable-career-of-windsors-fred-thomas|title=TVO recalls career of unheralded star athlete|last=Caton|first=Mary|date=July 17, 2019|publisher=windsorstar.com|newspaper=[[Windsor Star]]|access-date=November 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128042930/https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/tvo-piece-recalls-remarkable-career-of-windsors-fred-thomas|archive-date=November 28, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>


<ref name=wec>{{Cite web|url=http://wecshof.org/inductees/fred-thomas/|title=Fred Thomas: athlete, basketball, class of 1981|website=Windsor-Essex County Sports Hall of Fame|access-date=July 23, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name=wec>{{Cite web|url=http://wecshof.org/inductees/fred-thomas/|title=Fred Thomas: athlete, basketball, class of 1981|website=Windsor-Essex County Sports Hall of Fame|access-date=July 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724123520/http://wecshof.org/inductees/fred-thomas/|archive-date=July 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="cbc">{{cite news |title=3 Windsor athletes honoured at Express game for Black History Month |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/3-windsor-athletes-honoured-at-express-game-for-black-history-month-1.2967353 |accessdate=November 28, 2019 |work=CBC |date=Feb 23, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name="cbc">{{cite news |title=3 Windsor athletes honoured at Express game for Black History Month |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/3-windsor-athletes-honoured-at-express-game-for-black-history-month-1.2967353 |access-date=November 28, 2019 |publisher=[[CBC News]] |date=February 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126203539/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/3-windsor-athletes-honoured-at-express-game-for-black-history-month-1.2967353 |archive-date=November 26, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>


<ref name="abf">{{cite web |title=The Thomas Family |url=https://amherstburgfreedom.org/family-histories/thomas-family/|website=amherstburgfreedom.org |publisher=Amherstburg Freedom Museum |accessdate=November 28, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="abf">{{cite web |title=The Thomas Family |url=https://amherstburgfreedom.org/family-histories/thomas-family/ |website=amherstburgfreedom.org |publisher=[[Amherstburg Freedom Museum]] |access-date=November 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128053228/https://amherstburgfreedom.org/family-histories/thomas-family/ |archive-date=November 28, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>


<ref name="sc">{{cite book|last=Humber|first=William|title=A Sporting Chance: Achievements of African-Canadian Athletes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bqL5KapfefkC&pg=PA82|accessdate=November 27, 2019|date=November 22, 2004|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=978-1-896219-99-8|pages=80–82}}</ref>
<ref name="sc">{{cite book|last=Humber|first=William|author-link=William Humber|title=A Sporting Chance: Achievements of African-Canadian Athletes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bqL5KapfefkC&pg=PA82|access-date=November 27, 2019|date=November 22, 2004|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=978-1-896219-99-8|pages=80–82}}</ref>


<ref name="cbn">{{cite web |last1=Hendriks |first1=Andrew |title=July 4, 1948: Thomas first Canuck to break color barrier in pro ball |url=https://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/canadian-baseball-network-articles//thomas-first-canuck-to-break-color-barrier-68-years-ago?format=amp |website=canadianbaseballnetwork.com |accessdate=November 28, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="cbn">{{cite web |last1=Hendriks |first1=Andrew |title=July 4, 1948: Thomas first Canuck to break color barrier in pro ball |url=https://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/canadian-baseball-network-articles//thomas-first-canuck-to-break-color-barrier-68-years-ago?format=amp |website=canadianbaseballnetwork.com |access-date=November 28, 2019}}</ref>


}}
}}


==External links==
==External links==
[https://www.basketball.ca/files/2015-08/hof_fredthomas.pdf Thomas at the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame]
*[https://www.basketball.ca/files/2015-08/hof_fredthomas.pdf Thomas at the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012050844/http://www.basketball.ca/files/2015-08/hof_fredthomas.pdf |date=October 12, 2016 }}
*{{baseballstats |brm=thomas003fre}}

{{Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Fred}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:Assumption University (Worcester) alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian people of African-American descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Barbadian descent]]
[[Category:Sportspeople of Barbadian descent]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Windsor, Ontario]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Windsor, Ontario]]
[[Category:Black Canadian baseball players]]
[[Category:Black Canadian basketball players]]
[[Category:Players of Canadian football from Ontario]]
[[Category:Harlem Globetrotters players]]
[[Category:Toronto Argonauts players]]
[[Category:Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Farnham Pirates players]]
[[Category:Wilkes-Barre Indians players]]
[[Category:Canadian football people from Windsor, Ontario]]

Latest revision as of 15:41, 2 May 2024

Fred Thomas
Personal information
BornDecember 26, 1923 (1923-12-26)[1]
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
DiedMay 20, 1981 (1981-05-21) (aged 57)[1]
Toronto, Ontario
Resting placeWindsor, Ontario
EducationAssumption College, BA 1949
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[2]
Weight175 lb (79 kg)[2]
Baseball career
Outfielder
Bats: Left
Throws: Unknown
Member of the Canadian
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2021
Sport
SportBasketball, Baseball, Football

Fred Thomas (December 26, 1923 – May 20, 1981) was a Canadian multi-sport professional athlete. He played on semi-professional or professional teams in basketball, baseball, and Canadian football. He was a standout on his college basketball team and is known as one of Canada's finest basketball players. A 2019 profile by TVOntario described Thomas as "the greatest Canadian athlete you've never heard of".[2] He would likely have been more well-known had blacks not been denied opportunities to compete in major professional sports leagues in the 1940s and 1950s.

Early life and education[edit]

Thomas grew up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He was a fifth-generation Canadian whose ancestry can be traced to enslaved Africans fleeing North Carolina and Barbadian immigrants.[3] His parents were Charles Fred Thomas and Edith May Thomas. He had seven siblings; one brother and six sisters.[a][4] He was the second oldest and his athletic prowess let him excel at many sports. He attended high school at the J. C. Patterson Collegiate Institute in Windsor, beginning in the late 1930s.[2] He was a football and track star there, competing in hurdles, high jump, sprints, long jump and triple jump.[1] He also led the basketball team to a provincial championship, beating Ottawa Glebe Collegiate in Toronto for the All-Ontario Basketball Title.[1]

He graduated in 1943 and then enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He earned his wings shortly before the end of World War II. After being discharged from the service, he enrolled at Assumption College where he became known as one of the country's best basketball players.[2] He played four years under coach Stanley Nantais.[5]

In 1945, the Harlem Globetrotters, who were "widely considered the best team in the world",[2] were defeated by the Assumption basketball team 49–45.[5] A 1952 newspaper article said Thomas "was a constant thorn in the side of his visitors" and "His terrific speed enabling him to leap high into the air after burning down the floor to break up passing plays. His performance was amazing and the most amazed were the confused Globetrotters."[2]

In 1949, his senior year, he led the team to the Ontario Senior Men's Finals where they defeated Toronto Central by 90–56, 47 of which he scored himself. At the time, the Toronto Globe and Mail called him the "best Negro athlete in Canada".[6] During Thomas's college four-year basketball career (1945–1949), he scored 2,059 points, the third-highest on the NCAA scoring list at the time of his graduation.[2] This includes a record 639 points in the 1948–49 season.[3] His time at Assumption was known as the "Thomistic Era". The 1952 newspaper article summarized his college basketball career by saying "There was probably never a Canadian basketball player who so dominated the key area and was so deadly with the hook shot as Fred. He played the game with the grace of a swan and the agility of a gazelle."[2]

Baseball[edit]

Fred Thomas in a baseball dugout wearing a Kitchener Panthers uniform.
Thomas (1952) in a Kitchener Panthers uniform.

Outside of college, Thomas turned to baseball. He played with the Negro league's Cincinnati Crescents in 1946, the Detroit Senators in 1947, and the Farnham Pirates in 1948 in the Quebec Provincial League. Over 58 games with Farnham, he was batting .351 which caught the attention of Major League Baseball (MLB) scouts.[7] He was selected by the organization's Cleveland Indians to join the Wilkes-Barre Barons farm-team who played in the Eastern League, where he took the field for the first time in a July 4, 1948, doubleheader. This appearance was the first by a black player in the league, and he had two singles, and RBI, and a stolen base in the second game.[2] He broke the colour barrier in this league about a year after Jackie Robinson did so in Major League Baseball.[1] He was the 21st black player to sign a contract with a team in the MLB organization and the first from Canada.[6] Thomas played 12 games with the Barons in 1949 but never played professional baseball again.[7]

Thomas spent the early 1950s playing in Ontario's Intercounty Baseball League.[8] During the 1951 season, he won the league batting title as a member of the Kitchener Panthers.[2] The same year he was named the league's Most Valuable Player, with a batting average of 0.383.[1] In addition to his time with the Panthers, he played fastball for the Windsor Jets and Toronto Beaches.[1]

Globetrotters[edit]

Racism prevented Thomas from playing in the professional basketball leagues.[clarification needed] He played with the Cincinnati Crescents, a negro all-star barnstorming baseball team owned by Abe Saperstein, who also owned the Harlem Globetrotters. This connection brought him to the Globetrotters and he was invited to their training camp in Chicago in 1949. He arrived late because he had to finish the football season with the Toronto Argonauts[2] of the Canadian Football League where he was the second Black player and first Black Canadian player.[9] He played a season for the New York Renaissance, a Globetrotter all-black professional basketball team from Harlem, New York. After one season, he moved to the western division Kansas City Stars, another Globetrotter team.[2]

Later life[edit]

In 1952, he was not selected for the Canadian Olympic basketball team, where he would have been the only black on an otherwise all-white team.[5] After having surgery to repair a knee injury, he could no longer play professional sports but continued to play in smaller independent leagues in Canada. He played basketball for the Toronto Tri-Bells, a Canadian men's amateur team,[1] leading the team to the 1953 Canadian senior men's basketball title.[6]

Following his athletic career, Thomas became a coach and physical education teacher. He joined the staff of Valley Park High School in East York, Ontario in 1970, where he worked until his death.[2][3][10]

Thomas died on May 20, 1981 in Toronto.[8][11] He was buried in Windsor's Greenlawn Memorial Gardens.[10]

Lack of recognition[edit]

Thomas was known mostly in the Windsor area. He competed during a time of racism in sports just before the beginning of integration. According to William Humber, a historian on Canadian sports, racial barriers prevented Thomas from becoming a national star, as well as kept him relatively unknown. "Today, he would have been a star in any of those sports" said Humber.[2]

According to Miriam Wright, a history professor at the University of Windsor, Southern Ontario was racially segregated like parts of the United States during the Jim Crow era. Thomas and his black teammates were often not served at restaurants and his teams were not allowed to compete with white teams. As a black, he did not have the same opportunities as whites. Wright says that Thomas's story is not well known because "African-Canadian history was not something that was considered important or was only considered in the context of the Underground Railroad story."[2]

After decades of not being recognized, Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on November 16 2021.[8][12]

Awards and honors[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ One source says five sisters[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Fred Thomas: athlete, basketball, class of 1981". Windsor-Essex County Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Riches, Sam (July 11, 2019). "The Greatest Canadian athlete you've never heard of". tvo. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "The Thomas Family". amherstburgfreedom.org. Amherstburg Freedom Museum. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  4. ^ "African Canadian Community / Fred Thomas". windsor-communities.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Caton, Mary (July 17, 2019). "TVO recalls career of unheralded star athlete". Windsor Star. windsorstar.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Humber, William (November 22, 2004). A Sporting Chance: Achievements of African-Canadian Athletes. Dundurn. pp. 80–82. ISBN 978-1-896219-99-8. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Hendriks, Andrew. "July 4, 1948: Thomas first Canuck to break color barrier in pro ball". canadianbaseballnetwork.com. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c "Fred Thomas". Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  9. ^ Hutzul, Tim. "FRED THOMAS: CANADA'S FORGOTTEN LEGEND". FRED THOMAS: CANADA'S FORGOTTEN LEGEND. Canada Basketball. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Freddit Thomas dead at 57". The Windsor Star. May 21, 1981. p. 33.
  11. ^ "Thomas, Fred S.". The Windsor Star. May 21, 1981. p. 58.
  12. ^ Smith, Cory (November 4, 2021). "Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2021 to be inducted virtually Nov. 16". Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  13. ^ "3 Windsor athletes honoured at Express game for Black History Month". CBC News. February 23, 2015. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2019.

External links[edit]

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fred_Thomas_(athlete)&diff=1221885765&oldid=928428840

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