4 Star Admiral – Forest Thomas
Forest Thomas
After a minor media circus and a very public negotiating process, we are glad to announce that Forest Thomas is being named as the newest 4 Star Admiral. Forest is the first active player to be given his stars. As detailed in prior e-mails, the ceremony will include a plaque, champagne for everybody, and ceremonial coins. Most significantly, the ceremony will occur before a game where Forest is vying for win #300! Here are some of Forest's biographical highlights.
1. Forest was drafted in the 16th round of the inaugural EWB draft by the Boston Irish. As a 21 year old rookie back in 1970, Forest made 14 relief appearances (and no starts) for Boston before being traded to the Washington Admirals on May 31st for minor league prospect Bob Holland. Holland never made it to the majors, and so this trade ranks as one of the most one-sided in all of EWB history.
2. Part of why Forest was originally underrated is that most scouts and executives pegged him as a natural middle reliever, due to his (relatively) low level of endurance. Even after Washington acquired him, they never started him a single game during 1970. That offseason, though, Admiral management had a revelation: what if Forest were converted into a starter? At first, the move looked questionable, as Forest struggled through a horrible 8-15, 4.54 season in 1971 (remember, this was a pitcher's era; a 4.54 ERA was pretty bad). But in 1972, things clicked: Forest went 13-12, and posted a 2.69 ERA. In 1973, Forest was even better: 21-6, 2.61. And the rest was history.
3. Forest never got by on pure stuff, not even as a youngster. By most scouts estimation, his stuff was always below average (2). But, Thomas always had good movement on the pitches he did throw (4), and above all else, exceptional control (5). In fact, Thomas has a strong case to being the greatest control pitcher in the history of EWB, leading the league in BB/9 in 4 separate seasons. In his prime, Forest was a solid 12 points pitcher.
4. Forest is especially well known for having a great changeup. In fact, he's got 2 of them. Thomas is one of the few players to incorporate both a circle-change and a straight-change in his repertoire.
5. If you looked at Forest's year-by-year stats, you would swear he must have made 10 All Star games or so. But no: Forest made only 2 (1975 and 1976). Consistently underrated, it's hard to see how Forest's 1978 season of 21-6, 2.48 (leading the league in ERA and quality starts), failed to be All Star worthy. Maybe he had a much better 2nd half? That's not what Admirals fans will say: they will tell you that he was always underrated. It didn't help that Forest was consistently outshined on his own team by EWB legend, Luis "Gizmo" Delgado. Delgado is the consensus pick for the greatest EWB pitcher of all time. Amazingly, his teammate Forest has a strong case for being the second greatest: Forest will be the second pitcher in EWB history to capture 300 wins, the first being Gizmo Delgado. In a way, this will be fitting: when you think of Forest, you think of the greatest #2 SP, ever.
6. Forest does at least have this over Gizmo: Forest will be inducted into the Admiral 4 Star Club first. For reasons that have remained obscure, the Admirals have not yet held a ceremony for Delgado, who is known as something of an eccentric. Let it be known, though, that competitive rivalry never got between the friendship of Forest and Gizmo. On Forest's special day, Gizmo will be there, making first first appearance in Da Vista Ga since he pitched his last game back in 1988.
7. Forest presently has a playoff record of 16-18, 3.73. Don't let this mislead you though -- back in the 1970s, when Washington was in the midst of their dynasty, Forest was lights out. In the World Series years of 1974, 1975, 1977, and 1978, Thomas was 8-2 with an ERA in the low 2.00s during the playoffs. It's his subpar record during the playoffs in the 1980s that bring his career totals down.
8. In 1981, a 32-year-old veteran Forest went 17-4, 2.16. Washington worried, though, that they were getting old, and had too many veterans. Forest still had a lot of trade value, and so that offseason the Admirals shopped him. They ended up dealing him to the Kansas City Wheat Kings for a young up-and-coming catcher who was yet to play a full season in the majors: 24-year-old George McFarland. McFarland went on to become an Admirals' legend in his own right -- no doubt, he will soon get his own stars ceremony. Meanwhile, Forest seemed off his game in K.C., consistently posting losing records (13-14, or so) and ERAs much higher than he was used to (high 4.00s). Eventually, Forest and Kansas City realized things just weren't working out, and prior to the 1987 season, Forest came back to Washington via free agency. Back with the Admirals, Forest quickly regained his old form, going 12-9 in 1988, 18-6 and 3.51 in 1989, and then 7-6 and 3.28 in the World Championship year of 1989.
9. With that 1989 World Championship, Forest Thomas became the only member of all 5 Admiral World Championship teams. That gives Thomas the most World Series titles of all time -- more than Sherwood Johnston, more than Gizmo Delgado, more than anyone. When it comes to being a winner, Forest isn't number two. He's number one.
10. After the 1989 season, outgoing Admirals management declined to offer Forest a new contract, and he went unsigned throughout the entire 1989-1990 offseason. The new Admirals teenage GM made this his first order of business, signing Thomas to a free agent contract on April 2nd of 1990. But things did not go smootly: Forest was 1-2, 6.90 in 11 games (6 starts) for Washington in the first part of the year, and the Admirals decided to release Forest. The move was not handled well, and there was a great deal of outcry among fans. Who was this new GM, to dump Forest so unceremonially?
11. Forest did not catch on with any other team throughout 1990, or during the 1990-1991 offseason. A less persistent man might have retired at this point, but not Forest. Eventually, the Miami Banditos came calling, and on 5/31 of 1991. With Miami, Forest has been back at it, and now he's closing in on 300 wins.
12. Forest is well known for his mercurial personality, his resentment of being slighted (he keeps a well known "enemy's list," comprised mostly of media types and baseball execs), and his social conscience. The perception is that Forest keeps hanging on in his career just as a kind of "screw you" to all his detractors -- it's resentment, more than anything, that fuels him. His personality makes for a complicated mix. Initially, this led to Forest having a poor relationship with Washington fans, but through time Forest won them over, and to this day he is one of the most popular Admirals of all time: they think of him as one tough S.O.B. who comes in and does his job even if he doesn't get the accolades others do. He's become a kind of blue collar hero.