User:Halvorsen brian/Babe Thomas

Charles "Babe" G. Thomas was a professional baseball first baseman

Early life and semi-professional career
Charles G. Thomas was born in Portland, Oregon on August 4, 1902. He received the nickname "Babe" by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Thomas when he was an infant. Babe Thomas went to Franklin High School in Portland. At Franklin, Thomas played baseball, basketball and football. In 1919, Thomas started playing semi-professional baseball in Portland. He played for the Arleta club for four seasons (1919–1923). In that time, Thomas never batted under .300. In 1922 and 1923, Thomas played limited games for Coqulle semi-pro team in Coos Bay, Oregon.

Professional career
Thomas signed with the Portland Beavers on February 24, 1924. The Oregonian wrote that Thomas "is a clean-cut, modest, ambitious youngster and he is a hawk with a baseball. Also, he can hit. He bats left-handed and hits [them] hard and far". They also wrote the it was unlikely Thomas would make the team out of spring training since he was "only 20" and had "not filled out yet". Thomas announced that he planned to use the money from his baseball contract to go to college. By March 1, Thomas reported to spring training for the Beavers in Stockton, California. The Oregonian wrote on March 8, that Thomas was performance in spring camp was "promising" and "any way you look at it, he's promising". There was talk in the training camp of possibly converting Thomas to a pitcher. However, no serious conversion was ever implemented. On March 22, Thomas was placed on the disabled list after a baseball struck him in the chin and split his lip. By April 2, Thomas was leading the Beavers in batting average. Before the start of the season, Thomas was optioned to the Waterbury Brasscos of the Class-A Eastern League. With the Waterbury club, Thomas batted .277 with 96 hits, seven doubles and seven triples in 88 games played. He was credited as "Henry" while playing for the Brasscos.