John Thomson

John Carl Thomson (born October 1, 1973) is an American former starting pitcher who last played for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. He is a 1991 graduate of Sulphur High School in Sulphur, Louisiana. He went undrafted out of high school and pitched for McNeese State University (Lake Charles, Louisiana) in 1992 and Blinn Junior College (Brenham, Texas) in 1993. The Colorado Rockies selected him in the seventh round of the June 1993 amateur draft and he made his major league debut for the Rockies on May 11, 1997. 2007 is his eleventh major league season. In addition to the Rockies, he has played for the New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals and also pitched in the Toronto Blue Jays organization from April through June 2007. He currently resides in his hometown of Sulphur, LA. Colorado Rockies Thomson pitched in the Rockies minor league system for the Arizona Rockies of the Arizona Rookie League in 1993, the Asheville Tourists of the low single-A South Atlantic League (1994), the Central Valley Rockies of the advanced single-A California League (1994), the New Haven Ravens of the double-A Eastern League (1995–1996) and the Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the triple-A Pacific Coast League (1996–1997). In his major league debut May 11, 1997, Thomson gave up three runs (only one earned) on five hits in 7 innings with 7 strikeouts and 4 walks in a 3–1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. He earned his first major league win in a complete game against the Florida Marlins June 1. He remained in the Rockies starting rotation for the rest of 1997, posting seven wins and nine losses with a 4.71 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 166 innings pitched. Thomson made 26 starts for the Rockies in 1998 and led their starting pitchers with a 4.81 ERA. He missed a month of the season with a blister on his right middle finger that would become a recurring problem for him over the ensuing years.