Sam Thompson (b. March 5, 1860 - d. November 7, 1922) Sam Thompson was a home run hitter in an era when the talent was not much appreciated. He had his greatest success with the Phillies in the 1890s, where in 1894, he hit .404 and fellow outfielders, Billy Hamilton (.399), Ed Delahanty (.400), and Tuck Turner (.416) all had big years. "Big Sam" led the NL in base hits three times, and in homers and RBI twice each He had 128 career homers, with a .331 average and 1,299 RBI.
		Inducted in 1974
1888 H.D. Smith & Co. Sam Thompson SGC 40 VG

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Comments: In November, 2002 I picked up several 1976 Shakeys tribute cards including George Sisler, Kid Nichols, Joe Medwick, Billy Hamilton, Roger Connor, Charles Comiskey, and Sam Thompson. Some were submitted to and graded by PSA in January, 2003. The Thompson came back a MINT 9. I finally replaced it with something contemporary to his career when I purchased a 1888 Scrapps Tobacco card from Mile High Card in May, 2005. In December, 2007 I won an eBay auction and upgraded to a SGC 30 example. Three years later I won another auction for a raw example and submitted myself to SGC. It came back in a VG 40 holder - a nice one grade bump!

Card Details Below:
Year(s):	1888
ACC Set Designation:
Set Name:	H.D. Smith & Co.
Country:	United States
Description:	The origin of these die-cut, embossed player busts is not known, but they were apparently part of a book of "punch-outs" issued in the late 1880's. When out of their original album, they apparently resembled scraps of paper, presumably leading to their unusual name. An earlier theory that they were issued by "Scrapps Tobacco" has since been discounted after research indicated there never was such a company. The die-cuts include 18 different players - nine members of the American Association St. Louis Browns and nine from the National League Detroit Wolverines. Although they vary slightly in size, the player busts are generally about 2" wide and 3" high. The drawings for the St. Louis player busts were taken from the Old Judge "Brown's Champions" set. The player's name appears along the bottom.