Major League Baseball

Phillies History: Sam Thompson Hits 100th Career Homer

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:43 p.m. ET

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Fansided, David Hill/FanSided via Call to the Pen

In the 1800's, hitting 100 home runs was essentially the equivalent of the 600 homer club of modern times. On this day in 1895, Philadelphia Phillies slugger Sam Thompson became the fourth player in MLB history to hit his 100th career homer.

During the early days of baseball, getting to 100 career home runs was an impressive accomplishment. It was the equal of getting to 600 homers these days; an impressive sum that few players were capable of reaching. In fact, prior to Babe Ruth's ascension, Roger Connor was the Majors all time home run leader with 138 long balls, a mark that stood for 27 years after his retirement in 1897.

When the 1895 campaign started, Connor, Harry Stovey, and Dan Brouthers were the only players to have 100 or more home runs in their career. Sam Thompson, the veteran slugger of the Philadelphia Phillies, was not that far behind, with 96 home runs heading into the season. As he had just hit 13 homers in 1894, it was seemingly a matter of time before Thompson reached that milestone himself.

That happened on this day in 1895. In the Phillies 14-4 victory over the St. Louis Browns, Thompson hit his 100th career homer. He became the fourth player in MLB history, and the third in the history of the National League, to hit that many homers.

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Thompson was not done with his home run surge that year. He would lead the National League with 18 homers, along with 165 RBI, while producing a .392/.430/.654 batting line. That year moved Thompson up to third on the all time list, as he surpassed his former teammate Brouthers.

Thompson would have one more solid year the following season, hitting 12 home runs, but his bat was not the same. He slumped to a .298/.341/.449 batting line, and would become a part time player in his last two years, retiring in 1898. However, Thompson did come back for an eight game stint in 1906 as a 46 year old when the Tigers regular outfielders had been injured. In that time, he became the oldest player to hit a triple, a record that he still holds.

There was a time when 100 home runs was quite an impressive total for a career. On this day in 1895, Phillies slugger Sam Thompson became the fourth player in MLB history to reach that mark.

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