Curtis Thigpen

Curtis Thigpen
Thigpen with the Lansing Lugnuts in 2005
Catcher
Born: (1983-04-19) April 19, 1983 (age 41) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 6, 2007, for the Toronto Blue Jays
Last MLB appearance
September 26, 2008, for the Toronto Blue Jays
MLB statistics
Batting average	.229
Home runs	1
Runs batted in	12
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (2007–2008)

Curtis Barnard Thigpen (born April 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Amateur career

Thigpen spent his college career at the University of Texas and was part of the College World Series championship team in 2002, during which he was named to the All-Tournament Team. In 2003, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and was named a league all-star.[1][2][3] Thigpen was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the second round of the 2004 MLB draft with the 57th overall pick.[4]

Professional career

In 2007, Thigpen started the season playing for the Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Blue Jays.

Thigpen was called up to the Blue Jays on June 5, 2007, and made his major-league debut the next day at Rogers Centre in Toronto against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He started as first baseman and finished the game 1-for-4.[5] For the 2007 season, he had a .238 batting average with 11 RBIs, a .294 on-base percentage and a .287 slugging percentage over 47 major-league games.[6]

During the 2008 season, Thigpen saw less playing time due to fellow catcher Rod Barajas coming to Toronto. On September 26, Thigpen hit his first and only major-league home run, in what proved to be the final at bat of his major-league career.[7] He finished the season with a .176 batting average.[6]

On February 4, 2009, Thigpen was designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for newly acquired pitcher Brian Burres.[8] On February 6, Thigpen was sent outright to the Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s.[9]

On March 27, 2009, Thigpen was traded to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.[10] He was released in April 2010.[11]

Post-playing career

Thigpen and former Longhorns teammate J. B. Cox returned to the Texas Longhorns as volunteer student assistants in 2010.[12] Thigpen went on to work as a commercial lender at R Bank Texas.[13]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their final major league at bat

References

1. "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). Cape Cod Baseball League. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
2. "2003 Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox". The Baseball Cube. Archived from the original on August 7, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
3. "East All-Star Roster: All-Star Game 2003". capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
4. "2nd Round of the 2004 MLB June Amateur Draft". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
5. "Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Toronto Blue Jays Box Score, June 6, 2007". Baseball-Reference.com. June 6, 2007. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
6. "Curtis Thigpen Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
7. Bastian, Jordan (September 26, 2008). "Rain doesn't dim Jays' offseason hopes". Toronto Blue Jays. MLB.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
8. "Blue Jays claim Burres". Toronto Blue Jays. MLB.com. February 4, 2009. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
9. "Toronto Blue Jays Transactions". MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
10. "A's Acquire Catcher Curtis Thigpen from Toronto". Oakland Athletics. MLB.com. March 27, 2009. Archived from the original on April 1, 2009. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
11. Axisa, Mike (April 16, 2010). "Odds & Ends: Penn, Veras, Beimel, Mientkiewicz". MLB Trade Rumors. Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
12. Golden, Cedric (May 23, 2011). "Former Horns star Cox still finding a way to impact Texas baseball". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on May 27, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
13. "R Bank Press Release" (PDF). R Bank Texas. September 5, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2014.

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet