Charles Thomas

Charles Wesley Thomas was originally signed by Atlanta scout Dan Poplin...attended Western Carolina where he was an All- Southern Conference selection as a sophomore in 1999 after leading the league with a .406 batting average...also hit .369 as a freshman and .344 as a junior.

2005

Was on the A's Opening Day Roster but got off to one of the slowest starts in Oakland history before he was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento on June 9 where he finished the season...started the season 0 for 24 which was the second longest hitless streak to start a season in Oakland history...the record is 27 set by Joe Wallis in 1979...it gave him a career long 25 at bat hitless streak dating back to 2004...ended up batting .109 (5 for 46) in 30 games with the A's with no extra base hits and one RBI...made 12 starts with the A's (eight in left field, three in right field and one in center field)...was 1 for 12 (.083) with runners in scoring position...went 0 for 18 on the road...went 0 for 23 over his first 11 games and then struck out in his first at bat on April 27 against Chicago before singling off Freddy Garcia in the fifth inning for his first hit of the season...also singled in each of his next two games, giving him a three-game hitting streak (3 for 8, .375), his only hitting streak of the season...picked up his lone RBI on May 14 against New York with a RBI single in the eighth inning of the A's 15-6 loss...made his final start on May 16 against Boston and appeared in just 10 of the next 20 games (1 for 7) before he was optioned to Sacramento on June 9...his struggles continued with the River Cats where he hit just .227 with five home runs and 33 RBI in 75 games...the batting average was the lowest of his six minor league seasons...was successful in 16 of his 20 (80.0%) stolen base attempts and finished second on the club in steals...it was the second highest stolen base total of his career...batted .274 (17 for 62) against left-handed pitching and .214 (46 for 215) with all five of his home runs against right-handers...hit .194 (32 for 165) with the bases empty and .240 (18 for 75) with runners in scoring position...hit in every spot in the order except fourth and saw his most action with 22 games in the eight spot (17 for 72, .236) and 19 games batting leadoff (17 for 86, .198)...appeared in 65 games in center field, four in right field and three in left field...got off to a quick start following his option as he hit .333 (24 for 72) in 18 games in June...saw his average decline the rest of the way as he hit .200 (21 for 105) in 27 games in July and .183 (17 for 93) with three home runs and 13 RBI in 27 games in August...then went 1 for 7 (.143) in three regular season games in September before batting .188 (3 for 16) with no RBI and four walks in five post-season games for Sacramento...had a season best seven-game hitting streak from June 12 to 18 (15 for 29, .517)...had three three-hit games over that stretch and six for the season...doubled twice on July 17 against Colorado Springs...had a season high four walks and scored a season high three runs on August 17 at Tucson...struck out a season high four times on August 27 at Fresno...had a 0 for 19 streak from August 14 to 20 and a 0 for 24 skid from August 22 to September 1...went 1 for 28 over his final 10 regular season games...his season high for RBI was two on six occasions and he also had four two-steal games.

2004

Began the season by making his Triple-A debut at Richmond but finished it with Atlanta where he hit .288 with seven home runs and 31 RBI in 83 games...led National League rookies in on-base percentage (.368), tied for third in triples (4) and was fifth in batting...also topped NL rookies with seven outfield assists...started a team leading 61 games for the Braves in left field and also made one start in right field...hit .372 (29 for 78) over his first 28 games through July 27 and .247 (39 for 158) over his final 55 games...hit .281 (9 for 32) against left-handers and .289 (59 for 204) against right-handers...batted .373 during the day and .254 at night...saw most of his playing time batting eighth (48 for 160, .300)...was 4 for 9 (.444) as a pinch-hitter...was selected from Richmond on June 23 and made his Major League debut that night at Florida, striking out as a pinch-hitter...collected his first Major League hit with a pinch-hit infield single the next day against the Marlins off Ben Howard...had his first multiple hit game with two dou- bles on June 26 at Baltimore...posted a career-high three hits on July 4 vs. Boston...smacked his first career home run off Montreal's Livan Hernandez on July 7 at Puerto Rico...had his first career two-homer game on July 10 at Philadelphia...had a career high seven-game hitting streak from July 24 to 30 (9 for 21, .429)...batted .342 in the month of July...scored four runs on August 28 against San Francisco...had his second multi-homer game (both off Greg Maddux) and a career-high five RBI on October 3 at Chicago...appeared in all five NLDS games against Houston, including four starts in left field...was 4 for 16 (.250) with two walks and a stolen base...began the year at Richmond and hit .358 with four home runs and 32 RBI in 61 games...was leading the International League in batting and on-base percentage (.416) at the time of his promotion to Atlanta...was elected to the IL All-Star Team but did not play because of his promotion...his batting average included a .400 (22 for 55) mark against left-handers and .344 (55 for 160) against right-handers...average improved to .404 with runners in scoring position...earned Richmond Player of the Month honors in May when he hit .347 with three home runs and 18 RBI in 26 games...appeared in 19 games in center field, 15 in left field, 14 in right field and 10 at designated hitter...had three four-hit games over a nine game span from May 9 to 18.

2003

Split his season between Single-A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Greenville and batted a combined .279 with two home runs and 38 RBI in 113 games...added 47 walks and 11 hit by pitches for a .374 on-base percentage...hit .321 against left handed pitchers and .212 against right-handers at Myrtle Beach and then batted .150 against left-handers and .375 against right-handers at Greenville...batted .185 with runners in scoring position at Myrtle Beach and .389 at Greenville...appeared in 42 games in left field, 40 in center field and 26 in right field...hit in every spot in the batting order but saw most of his action in the leadoff spot (60 for 180, .333)...began the season at Myrtle Beach and was batting .242 in 36 games when he was promoted to Greenville on May 22...went 3 for 20 (.150) in nine games and returned to Myrtle Beach on June 4...hit .241 in 30 games and was moved back to Greenville for good on July 24...hit .346 over his final 38 games and finished with a .324 average in 47 games overall at Greenville compared to .242 in 66 games at Myrtle Beach...garnered Player of the Week honors in the Southern League, August 1-7, after hitting .440 (11 for 25) with four doubles, one triple and five RBI.

2002

Injuries limited him to 73 games at Single-A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Greenville and he hit a combined .233 with two home runs and 18 RBI...began the season on the disabled list with a left elbow sprain and was also on the DL from May 30 to June 11 with a pulled left hamstring...activated from the disabled list on May 20 and went 2 for 7 (.286) in two games at Myrtle Beach before he was transferred to Greenville on May 24...hit .231 in 71 games at Greenville...that included a .321 average against left handed pitching and .205 against right-handers...appeared in 61 games in right field, nine in left field and one in center field...had a .987 fielding percentage in the outfield for Greenville (2 errors in 158 total chances).

2001

Began the season at Single-A Myrtle Beach in the Carolina League but was transferred to Single-A Macon in the South Atlantic League on April 23 and finished the season there...batted a combined .241 with 11 home runs and 65 RBI in 120 games...the home runs and RBI were career highs as were his 18 stolen bases...hit just .159 in 12 games at Myrtle Beach and .250 with all 11 of his home runs in 108 games at Macon...finished second on Macon in triples (5), third in runs scored (59), home runs and RBI (59) and fourth in hits (102) and doubles (19)...hit two home runs and June 11 against Charleston, SC and August 14 at Delmarva.

2000

Made his professional debut at Jamestown of the New York-Penn League and hit .303 with a home run and 25 RBI in 68 games...tied for the league lead in triples (8), tied for second in doubles (20) and tied for third in extra base hits (29)...appeared in 62 games in right field, three in center field and two in left field...batted .358 with 19 of his 25 RBI in 29 games in July.