Former Gophers baseball All-American Jerry Thomas, a key member of the Gophers’ first NCAA baseball champion in 1956, died Tuesday, Jan. 6.
Thomas, who lived in St. Louis Park, was 90.
The Bloomington native pitched two complete games in the 1956 College World Series, including a five-hitter in a 12-1 victory over Arizona in the championship game. He also had two hits, including a triple, and two RBI in the game as he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the series.
“All season long, I always figured if I had one game I wanted to win, Jerry would pitch it,” Gophers coach Dick Siebert told the Minneapolis Star before the championship game.
Thomas, a 5-foot-10 righthander, was 12-2 with 12 complete games for the Gophers in 1956 as the Gophers won their first Big Ten title since 1935. The victories, complete games and innings pitched (121⅔) for that season are still Gopher single-season records.
As a senior in 1957, Thomas was 6-2 for the Gophers. One highlight of his season was in the first game of a doubleheader against Illinois on May 4, when hit three consecutive home runs — in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings — and drove in six runs in the Gophers’ 16-3 victory. His younger brother George was 2-for-5 with two RBI in that game.
Jerry Thomas finished his Gopher career with a then-record 21 victories, 24 complete games and 197 strikeouts. He still ranks second in complete games and 12th in strikeouts on the Gophers career lists and was elected to the Gophers ‘M’ Club Hall of Fame in 1995.
Former Gophers coach John Anderson wrote in an email that Thomas was “a special man who was a regular at the old Siebert Field Sunday games and always sat above the first base dugout in the second row. We always enjoyed a nice conversation before each game. Jerry is a Golden Gopher Baseball legend and was a wonderful man.”
