#CardCorner: 1981 Topps Scot Thompson
Hall of Fame staffers are also baseball fans and love to share their stories. Here is a fan's perspective from Cooperstown.
In the days before every main road was an interstate highway, there were U.S. Highways like Route 19 in Pennsylvania. And believe it or not, it went right through Mars. This geographic oddity was a frequent sight as a kid on my way to Three Rivers Stadium. Driving with my father and brother from our home just over the Pennsylvania border in Ohio, we would take Route 422 around New Castle, Pa., and then connect with Route 19. That took us south into a now-bustling area called Cranberry Township. But then, it was just a crossroads for Interstate 79, which went right down into Pittsburgh. That crossroads had a sign that read: “Mars 5 mi”.
But I was never concerned with men from Mars until Scot Thompson debuted for the Cubs in 1978. Three years later, Thompson’s 1981 Topps card confirmed his home was – in fact – Mars, Pa.
Thompson’s career began as a highly touted prospect following his selection as the No. 7 overall pick in the 1974 MLB Draft. Chicago passed on future stars like Garry Templeton, Lance Parrish, Willie Wilson and Rick Sutcliffe in the first round to grab Thompson, then sent the Knox High School (located just up the road from Mars in Renfrew, Pa.) alum to the Gulf Coast League for his first taste of pro ball.
By 1977, Thompson was hitting .305 in Double-A Wichita, and followed that up in 1978 with a .326 batting average with the same team. He merited a September call-up that year and hit .417 in 15 games.
Then in 1979, Thompson earned a spot on the Cubs’ Opening Day roster. Neither walking nor striking out often, Thompson hit .289 over 128 games that year. In an era where batting average was still king, Thompson finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Sutcliffe – who easily won the award – and the Astros’ Jeffrey Leonard, who hit .290.
Neither Thompson nor Leonard showed much power that year (they hit a combined two home runs, both by Thompson), but each was expected to blossom in the 1980s.
Leonard did. Thompson did not.
After hitting .212 in 102 games for the Cubs in 1980, Thompson spent much of 1981 with Triple-A Iowa, hitting .165 in his 57 games in the big leagues that year. But he bounced back to hit .365 as a reserve outfielder/pinch hitter in 1982.
A .193 batting average in 53 games in 1983 convinced the Cubs to let Thompson go as a free agent. He landed with the Giants the next season and hit .306 with a .376 on-base percentage in 120 games with San Francisco.
Then in 1985, the Giants sent Thompson and pitcher Bill Laskey to the Expos on Aug. 1 in exchange for Dan Driessen.
Thirty-four games later, Thompson’s big league career was over.
Aside from his home on Mars, Scot Thompson left a few other big league marks – most notably the fact that he appears to be the only player in big league history with the “one t” spelling of “Scot”. And though the sabrmetric crowd may not respect his .640 career OPS, I’ll always remember his 1979 campaign for that more-than-respectable .289 batting average. At 10 years old, I was pretty impressed that a guy from that area was in the conversation for National League Rookie of the Year. And four decades later, I still am.
Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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