Curtis Thigpen

{{Infobox baseball biography

| image=Curtis_Thigpen_Cropped.jpg

| caption = Thigpen with the Lansing Lugnuts in 2005

| name=Curtis Thigpen

| position=Catcher

| team=

| number=

| bats=Right

| throws=Right

| birth_date={{Birth date and age|1983|4|19}}

| birth_place=Dallas, Texas, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

| debutdate=June 6

| debutyear=2007

| debutteam=Toronto Blue Jays

|finalleague = MLB

| finaldate=September 26

| finalyear=2008

| finalteam=Toronto Blue Jays

|statleague = MLB

| stat1label=Batting average

| stat1value=.229

| stat2label=Home runs

| stat2value=1

| stat3label=Runs batted in

| stat3value=12

| teams=

Toronto Blue Jays ({{mlby|2007}}–{{mlby|2008}})

}}

Curtis Barnard Thigpen (born April 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Amateur career

Thigpen spent his college career at the University of Texas and was part of the College World Series championship team in 2002, during which he was named to the All-Tournament Team. In 2003, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and was named a league all-star.{{cite web|author=|date=|title=Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League|url=http://capecodbaseball.org.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/2012website/archives/Current%20Year/All_Time_MLB_CCBL_Alumni.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=September 25, 2019|website=Cape Cod Baseball League|publisher=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207020925/http://capecodbaseball.org.ismmedia.com:80/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/2012website/archives/Current%20Year/All_Time_MLB_CCBL_Alumni.pdf |archive-date=2012-12-07 }}{{cite web|title=2003 Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox|url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/college/summer/stats.asp?Y=2003&T=Yarmouth-Dennis%20Red%20Sox|url-status=live|access-date=September 23, 2021|website=The Baseball Cube|publisher=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807142432/http://www.thebaseballcube.com/college/summer/stats.asp?Y=2003&T=Yarmouth-Dennis%20Red%20Sox |archive-date=2021-08-07 }}{{cite web|url=http://capecodbaseball.org/news/asgnews/index.html?article_id=534 |title=East All-Star Roster: All-Star Game 2003 |publisher=capecodbaseball.org |access-date=May 6, 2020}} Thigpen was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the second round of the 2004 MLB draft with the 57th overall pick.{{Cite web|title=2nd Round of the 2004 MLB June Amateur Draft|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?year_ID=2004&draft_round=2&draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round|url-status=live|access-date=December 23, 2021|website=Baseball-Reference.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105060217/http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=year_round&year_ID=2004&draft_round=2&draft_type=junreg |archive-date=2010-01-05 }}

Professional career

In 2007, Thigpen started the season playing for the Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Blue Jays.

Thigpen was called up to the Blue Jays on June 5, 2007, and made his major-league debut the next day at Rogers Centre in Toronto against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He started as first baseman and finished the game 1-for-4.{{Cite web|date=June 6, 2007|title=Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Toronto Blue Jays Box Score, June 6, 2007|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR200706060.shtml|url-status=live|access-date=December 23, 2021|website=Baseball-Reference.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025005604/http://www.baseball-reference.com:80/boxes/TOR/TOR200706060.shtml |archive-date=2007-10-25 }} For the 2007 season, he had a .238 batting average with 11 RBIs, a .294 on-base percentage and a .287 slugging percentage over 47 major-league games.{{Cite web|title=Curtis Thigpen Stats|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thigpcu01.shtml|url-status=live|access-date=December 23, 2021|website=Baseball-Reference.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612202212/http://www.baseball-reference.com:80/players/t/thigpcu01.shtml |archive-date=2009-06-12 }}

During the 2008 season, Thigpen saw less playing time due to fellow catcher Rod Barajas coming to Toronto. On September 26, Thigpen hit his first and only major-league home run, in what proved to be the final at bat of his major-league career.{{Cite web|last=Bastian|first=Jordan|date=September 26, 2008|title=Rain doesn't dim Jays' offseason hopes|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080926&content_id=3553692&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929100347/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080926&content_id=3553692&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor|archive-date=September 29, 2008|access-date=December 23, 2021|website=Toronto Blue Jays|publisher=MLB.com}} He finished the season with a .176 batting average.

On February 4, 2009, Thigpen was designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for newly acquired pitcher Brian Burres.{{cite web|date=February 4, 2009|title=Blue Jays claim Burres|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090204&content_id=3798720&vkey=pr_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208215350/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090204&content_id=3798720&vkey=pr_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor|archive-date=February 8, 2009|access-date=December 23, 2021|work=Toronto Blue Jays|publisher=MLB.com}} On February 6, Thigpen was sent outright to the Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s.{{Cite web|title=Toronto Blue Jays Transactions|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/transactions/?c_id=tor&year=2009&month=2|url-status=live|access-date=December 23, 2021|website=MLB.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027163230/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/transactions/?c_id=tor&year=2009&month=2 |archive-date=2020-10-27 }}

On March 27, 2009, Thigpen was traded to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.{{Cite web|date=March 27, 2009|title=A's Acquire Catcher Curtis Thigpen from Toronto|url=http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090327&content_id=4075924&vkey=pr_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401205701/http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090327&content_id=4075924&vkey=pr_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak|archive-date=April 1, 2009|access-date=April 1, 2009|website=Oakland Athletics|publisher=MLB.com}} He was released in April 2010.{{Cite web|last=Axisa|first=Mike|date=April 16, 2010|title=Odds & Ends: Penn, Veras, Beimel, Mientkiewicz|url=https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/04/odds-ends-19.html|url-status=live|access-date=December 23, 2021|website=MLB Trade Rumors|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330114643/http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/04/odds-ends-19.html |archive-date=2015-03-30 }}

Post-playing career

Thigpen and former Longhorns teammate J. B. Cox returned to the Texas Longhorns as volunteer student assistants in 2010.{{cite web|last=Golden|first=Cedric|date=May 23, 2011|title=Former Horns star Cox still finding a way to impact Texas baseball|url=http://www.statesman.com/sports/longhorns/former-horns-star-cox-still-finding-a-way-1493873.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527180633/http://www.statesman.com/sports/longhorns/former-horns-star-cox-still-finding-a-way-1493873.html|archive-date=May 27, 2011|access-date=September 6, 2011|website=Austin American-Statesman}} Thigpen went on to work as a commercial lender at R Bank Texas.{{Cite web|date=September 5, 2012|title=R Bank Press Release|url=http://www.rbanktexas.com/pdf/Press_Release_Curtis_Thigpen.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116131858/http://www.rbanktexas.com/pdf/Press_Release_Curtis_Thigpen.pdf|archive-date=January 16, 2014|access-date=January 15, 2014|website=R Bank Texas}}