Dan Thomas
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Danny Lee Thomas (May 9, 1951 - June 12, 1980) was a Major League Baseball player who played for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1976 and 1977.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Thomas attended Southern Illinois University and was the 6th pick overall in the 1972 amateur draft. Thomas played 54 games for the Brewers in 1976 and 1977 as an outfielder and designated hitter. He had a career batting average of .274, an on base percentage of .363, and a .457 slugging percentage.
Though he showed tremendous promise, Thomas had mental health issues from nearly the time he arrived in the big leagues; these were compounded by his refusal in 1977 to play on Saturdays due to religious reasons, which led to backlash in the press. His life took a turn for the worse after he was released by the Brewers. He was imprisoned in Mobile, Alabama for statutory rape and wound up hanging himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial in June 1980.
