#368 Danny Thompson

There’s a sadness upon viewing the card.... Tragic figure in baseball....Dead at age 29 after playing  for Minnesota and Texas....Trust on the spot light 1970 expected to fill the void left by Rod Carew’s mid season injury....big shoes to fill....hit .219 but Twins made playoffs....Used sparingly in 1971...learning the infield paid off in 1972....took over for a vacated Leo Cardinez 1972...responded with a fine season hitting .278 best mark for AL shortstops....then the devastating diagnosis of Leukemia just before spring training 1973...carried on as a semi-regular, sharing duties with Jerry Terrell, Sergio Ferrar, Luis Gomez....after two so-so seasons rebounded to bring average up to .270 in 1975.... died on Dec 10, 1976, two months and eight days after his last at bat...for the past 40 years there is a Golf Tournament in his honor held in Idaho initially hosted by friend Harmon Killebrew.