Samuel Luther Thompson

Samuel Luther Thompson was born in Danville on March 5, 1860, and was educated in Danville Graded School. He played for the Danville Browns baseball team in 1883 and for the Evansville and Indianapolis minor league ball clubs in 1884 and 1885. He played for the National League Detroit Wolverines from 1885 to 1888 and the Philadelphia Phillies from 1889 to 1898, and with the American League Detroit Tigers in 1906. Thompson and his wife retired to Detroit, where he died on November 7, 1922, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 and the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. Thompson remains first in runs batted in per game, edging out Lou Gehrig. A local ball diamond and a Danville High School award honor this native son.

Danville, Indiana · United States