Sam Thompson

Samuel Luther Thompson (March 5, 1860 – November 7, 1922), nicknamed "Big Sam," was an American professional baseball player who played as a right fielder from 1884 to 1898, with a brief comeback in 1906. An Indiana native standing 6 feet 2 inches, he was one of the larger players of his day and was known for his prominent handlebar mustache. In Major League Baseball he played for the Detroit Wolverines (1885–1888), the Philadelphia Phillies (1889–1898), and the Detroit Tigers (1906).

Thompson compiled a .331 career batting average and ranked among the most prolific run producers in the game's history. His career ratio of run batted in to games played, .923 (1,305 RBIs in 1,410 games), remains the highest in major league history. In 1895 he averaged 1.44 RBIs per game, and his 166 RBIs in 1887, collected in only 127 games, stood as the major league record until 1921, when Babe Ruth drove in 168 in 152 games. Thompson still holds the major league record for most RBIs in a single month, with 61 in August 1894 while playing for the Phillies. In 1922, manager Bill Watkins called Thompson "the greatest natural hitter of all time." He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.