Tom Phillips

Thomas Gerald Phillips (April 5, 1889 – April 12, 1929) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for four seasons. He played for the St. Louis Browns in 1915, the Cleveland Indians in 1919, and the Washington Senators from 1921 to 1922. Tom Phillips was well over six-feet tall, hence the nickname "Big Tom Phillips." The family considers Tom a hero as he was the first to make it "out of the mines." Tom never married but his name lived on in several generations of descendants named Thomas in his honor. According to an April 12, 1929 newspaper obituary clipping found on the back of a family portrait: "He broke into professional baseball with Wilkes-Barre in 1914, where his work attracted Connie Mack. During his best years he was a member of the [Philadelphia] Athletics, St. Louis [Browns], Cleveland [Indians] and Washington [Senators] in the American League. He was also with Little Rock and New Orleans of the Southern Association, pitching the latter team to a pennant in 1924. In 1925 Washington sent him to Minneapolis. The Millers recently sent him to Des Moines, in the Western Association, while he was ill at home here [Philipsburg, Pa.]. He was about 38 years of age, and had lived here nearly all of his life. His best feat was a no-hit, no-run game while with New Orleans in 1924. "Tom Phillips, former big league pitcher, died at the Philipsburg state hospital here today after a lingering illness from diabetes. He had recently returned from Hot Springs, where he had spent the winter in hopes of regaining his health."