The Sad, Strange Story of Dan Thomas, The "Sundown Kid"

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Dan Thomas was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1951 and moved to the East St. Louis, Illinois, area as a youngster. He described his mother as a ‘religious fanatic.’ For a time, Thomas attended a World Wide Church of God (WWCG) church with his mom but quit when the decree that no member could work from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday interfered with his baseball schedule.

At Dupo (Illinois) High School, he starred in football and baseball before heading to college at Southern Illinois University. The Salukis lost in the championship game of the 1971 College World Series to USC, 7-2. On the team that finished 43-9 were future major leaguers Duane Kuiper, Mike Eden, Jim Dwyer, and Thomas. The following season, SIU finished the season with an outstanding record of 32-8-1 but did not make it to postseason play. Thomas and Joe Wallis were named to the NCAA District 4 all-star team.

In June, Thomas was chosen by the Brewers as the sixth pick in the first round of the 1972 draft. He began at Low-A Newark (New York) and slashed .271/.352/.396 in 48 at-bats but failed to hit a home run. He moved up to Triple-A Evansville (Indiana) but struggled tremendously, batting only .130/.230/.167 in 54 at-bats. Thomas was then demoted and finished the season in Double-A San Antonio. For the whole season, he had a slash line of .202/.288/.292 with only one homer while striking out 31.8% of the time. Thomas also struggled defensively at third and second bases, making 19 errors in 221 chances for a fielding percentage of .914.

Thomas spent both the 1973 and 1974 campaigns at Double-A Shreveport and performed well the first year, hitting nine home runs while slashing .266/.355/.376 in 458 at-bats. Midway through the year, he switched from third base to left field and became an adequate defender.

Thomas spoke out before the 1974 season about hitting advice he received from Milwaukee coaches, saying, “They took a great prospect and destroyed him. They tried to change me again this year (1974), and I told them to jump back. And I think that’s one reason I’m here (in Double-A).”

In 1974, Thomas suffered a hairline break in his leg sliding into home plate in early June. He missed about seven weeks but returned in late July and finished the season, hitting a pair of home runs while slashing .255/.350/.335 in 188 at-bats. He cut down on his strikeouts, whiffing at a 22% rate, about a 10% drop from 1972.

Thomas began his third straight year at Double-A in 1975 at Thetford Mines, Quebec. He found his power stroke, knocking out eight homers in 191 at-bats before he got suspended in late June for punching an umpire. Thomas had been angered by a call at second base that didn’t even involve him. After the game, he caught up with umpire Greg Henley in the parking lot and hit the arbiter in the face. Thomas was given an early ‘vacation’ and ended the year with a slash line of .251/.316/.445.

However, the Brewers stuck with him and assigned Thomas to Double-A Berkshire (Massachusetts) in 1976, the fourth different Brewers’ Double-A location in five years. Thomas paid them back by having the best season of his career. He slashed .325/.414/.614, hitting 29 home runs, knocking in 83, and stealing 15 bases. He won the Triple Crown and was named the Eastern League MVP despite missing two weeks after ear surgery to repair a perforated eardrum from a bad hop ball that struck him in the ear. That earned him a September call-up to Milwaukee. Thomas continued his hot-hitting ways, slashing .276/.372/.457 in 105 at-bats, including four long balls.

After the season ended, the Brewers sent Thomas to Venezuela for winter ball. One night, Thomas swallowed a handful of muscle relaxers, but his wife was able to take him to a doctor in time to save his life. The Brewers brought him back to Milwaukee, where he stayed in a hospital for three weeks. His behavior started to get stranger; he was found wandering next to a freeway in Milwaukee and later walked away from a job the Brewers had arranged for him.

He returned to East St. Louis and was in a psychologist’s care for four months. And at that time, he also went back to the teachings of the WWCG.

Thomas played well in spring training in 1977 and made the big club as the left fielder. However, since the Brewers played many Friday night and Saturday afternoon games, Thomas would miss about one-fourth of the team’s games due to his religious beliefs, which entailed no work (baseball) between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday.

“[The Brewers] were quite surprised,” Thomas said. “They asked me to reconsider, and I did. I thought about all the things I’ve been through and whether I should go back and become the old me or not. I decided there is something more important [than baseball] and said I couldn’t play on my Sabbath.”

Thomas played for about a month, and although he performed well, he was sent to Triple-A Spokane. The Brewers said they needed another pitcher; Thomas thought it was something else. “I think my religion has something to do with it.” He slashed .237/.320/.344 in Spokane over 131 at-bats while hitting only one home run. He was demoted again to Double-A Holyoke (Massachusetts) but refused to report and sat out the rest of the season.

The Brewers released Thomas before the 1978 season. He caught on with independent Boise in the Northwest League and did well, slashing .359/.448/.653 in 170 at-bats, but no major league team showed interest.

In 1979, he played 39 games for Miami in the Inter-American League and then quit. That was his last season in organized ball. After the season, he moved back to Mobile, Alabama, with his wife and three daughters and lived with friends. Thomas was nearly broke, as he had spent most of his salary from baseball. He worked as a riveter and installed swimming pools. Thomas told his wife that he wished he’d had cancer so people would at least be able to understand what was wrong with him.

On June 1, 1980, he was arrested for the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl. He admitted to nothing but spoke to officers about the pressures on him from his past successes, his addictions, and his mental problems. A friend offered to pay for a lawyer, but Thomas refused.

Eleven days later, he hung himself in his jail cell with strips of fabric ripped from his bed sheets. He had no money and was buried in a potter’s field next to a highway. Only a few people attended his funeral. His parents and three of his four siblings refused to show up.

The ‘Sundown Kid’ showed bright potential, but darkness ultimately brought him down. Dan Thomas was 29 years old.

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