S. C. Thompson
{{Short description|American sportswriter}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = S. C. Thompson
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1897|09|14}}
| birth_place = New Albany, Indiana
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|03|21|1897|09|14}}
| death_place = Long Beach, California
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Musician
| employer =
| years_active =
| known_for = Baseball research
| notable_works = The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball
}}
File:Official Encyclopedia of Baseball, 1952 supplement (front cover).jpg
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,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20940815/hy_turkin_dies/ |title=Hy Turkin Dies |agency=AP |page=3 |newspaper=The Miami News |date=June 25, 1955 |accessdate=June 13, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} but Thompson edited four more editions of the book before his death in 1967.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20941353/set_services_for_s_c_thompson/ |title=Set Services For S. C. Thompson, Baseball Author |agency=UPI |page=11 |newspaper=Anderson Herald |location=Anderson, Indiana |date=March 23, 1967 |accessdate=June 13, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}} 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
- {{cite book |title=The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball |first1=Hy |last1=Turkin |authorlink1=Hy Turkin |first2=S. C. |last2=Thompson |authorlink2=S. C. Thompson |publisher=A. S. Barnes & Company |location=New York City |date=1956 |LCCN=56-5560}}
- {{cite book |last=Schwarz |first=Alan |authorlink=Alan Schwarz |title=The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics |year=2004 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0312322224 |pages=52–54, 91 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Numbers-Game-Baseballs-Fascination-Statistics/dp/0312322224/}}
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20964214/latest_thing_in_baseball_records/ |title=Latest Thing in Baseball Records |first=Tommy |last=Holmes |authorlink=Tommy Holmes (sportswriter) |newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |page=16 |date=April 24, 1951 |accessdate=June 14, 2018 |via=newspapers.com}}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Deaths from cancer in California