Henry Curtis Thompson
(December 8, 1925 – September 30, 1969)
He was an American player in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball who played primarily as a third baseman. A left-handed batter, he played with the Dallas Green Monarchs (1941), Kansas City Monarchs (1943, 1946–47, 1948), St. Louis Browns (1947) and New York Giants (1949–56).. At the beginning of his career, he was a hard-hitting star for the Monarchs in the Negro American League, playing both infield and outfield. At 17, he played right field in his first season, batting .300.After leaving baseball, Thompson met with a series of difficulties. He became a cab driver in New York, but following a divorce was convicted of armed robbery in Texas, and in 1963 was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In 1967, however, he was paroled after serving three years; in 1968 he moved to Fresno, California, and became a city playground director. In the summer of 1969 he left that position, possibly to seek a job with the National League; but those plans did not have a chance to materialize. Thompson died at the age of 43 following a seizure on September 30, 1969, 13 years to the day of his last game in the majors