Fred Thomas who was born on December 19, 1892 in Milwaukee, WI was the 3rd baseman for the 1918 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox the previous Sox team to wrap up a World Series in “Bean town.” 

Milwaukee’s own Fred Thomas member of the 1918 W.S. Champion Red Sox

Thomas came to Boston by the way of a trade with the Cleveland Indians in 1916 along with pitcher Sam Jones in the infamous Tris Speaker deal. Thomas spent 1916 in New Orleans and 1917 in Providence before getting moved up to the “bigs.” He made his major debut with the Red Sox was on April 22, 1918 at the age of  25, and on May 13, 1918, Thomas got his first major league hit, off Allan Sothoron of the Browns, in the first inning of the game that the Sox won  7-5. The move to start Thomas in that game was due to an injury to  Dick Hoblitzell and the fact that  Ruth was scheduled to pitch. Thomas at third was only suppose to be temporary, but he kept producing, and kept playing until he left the team in late June to join the Navy, due to World War I. Thomas returned on a 10-day furlough to play third base for Boston in the 1918 World Series vs the Cubs.

Thomas batted seventh for Boston in the Series, and had only two hits singling in games 3 and 5. More importantly he was there for his defense which had been described as stable rather than spectacular. In game the final game… game 6 he played without an error, making a couple of outstanding plays. Thomas received $750, for his efforts in the 1918 World Series about two-thirds of the full share.

Thomas finished his three year MLB career with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1919 and 1920 (which included three games with the Washington Senators).  After baseball,Thomas retired to Northern Wisconsin with his wife, Constance. They opened a resort on Big Chetac Lake in Birchwood, Wisconsin which is still in operation today, and run by his two sons.

Fred Thomas died in January 15th 1986 in Rice Lake WI