Jump to content

S. C. Thompson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dmoore5556 (talk | contribs) at 00:21, 22 June 2018 (→Sources: authorlink). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

S. C. Thompson
Born(1897-09-14)September 14, 1897
New Albany, Indiana
DiedMarch 21, 1967(1967-03-21) (aged 69)
Long Beach, California
NationalityAmerican
OccupationMusician
Known forBaseball research
Notable workThe Official Encyclopedia of Baseball
1952 Baseball Encyclopedia

Sherley Clark Thompson (September 14, 1897 – March 21, 1967) was best known as the co-editor of the first baseball encyclopedia. He published under the name "S. C. Thompson" and was known to his friends as "Tommy."

Musical career

Thompson was a musician by trade, beginning his career as a drummer before becoming a top concert cornetist. In 1921, he joined John Sousa's band as a bassoon player. Thompson moved to Long Beach in 1950, where he played in the Municipal Band and served as president of the local musician's union.

Baseball Encyclopedia

Baseball was Thompson's passionate hobby, and he had spent more than twenty years collecting information on the history of the game and its players. In 1944, he discovered that sportswriter Hy Turkin lived around the corner from him, and the two struck up a friendship. That would eventually lead to a collaboration on the first baseball encyclopedia, using Thompson's archives as a starting point. The book, published in 1951 by A. S. Barnes & Company was universally hailed as a quantum leap in the field of sports reference. Turkin died in 1955,[1] but Thompson edited four more editions of the book before his death in 1967.[2] The book continued with other editors until 1979.

Death

Thompson died after a prolonged battle with cancer. He and his wife Rose did not have any children.

Sources

  • Turkin, Hy; Thompson, S. C. (1956). The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball. New York City: A. S. Barnes & Company. LCCN 56-5560.
  • Schwarz, Alan (2004). The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics. St. Martin's Press. pp. 52–54, 91. ISBN 0312322224.

References

  1. ^ "Hy Turkin Dies". The Miami News. AP. June 25, 1955. p. 3. Retrieved June 13, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Set Services For S. C. Thompson, Baseball Author". Anderson Herald. Anderson, Indiana. UPI. March 23, 1967. p. 11. Retrieved June 13, 2018 – via newspapers.com.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=S._C._Thompson&oldid=846963864"