Bobby Thigpen

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American baseball player (born 1963)

title: "Bobby Thigpen" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1963-births", "living-people", "baseball-players-from-tallahassee,-florida", "american-league-all-stars", "american-league-saves-champions", "chicago-white-sox-players", "philadelphia-phillies-players", "seattle-mariners-players", "chicago-white-sox-coaches", "major-league-baseball-bullpen-coaches", "major-league-baseball-pitchers", "fukuoka-daiei-hawks-players", "american-expatriate-baseball-players-in-japan", "mississippi-state-bulldogs-baseball-players", "seminole-state-raiders-baseball-players", "appleton-foxes-players", "20th-century-american-sportsmen", "niagara-falls-sox-players", "birmingham-barons-players", "hawaii-islanders-players", "nashville-sounds-players", "anchorage-glacier-pilots-players", "peninsula-oilers-players"] description: "American baseball player (born 1963)" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Thigpen" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American baseball player (born 1963) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox baseball biography"]

Field	Value
name	Bobby Thigpen
image	1987 Rob Broder Rookies Bobby Thigpen.jpg
position	Pitcher
bats	Right
throws	Right
birth_date
birth_place	Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
debutleague	MLB
debutdate	August 6
debutyear	1986
debutteam	Chicago White Sox
finalleague	MLB
finaldate	April 27
finalyear	1994
finalteam	Seattle Mariners
debut2league	NPB
debut2date	June 11
debut2year	1994
debut2team	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
final2league	NPB
final2date	June 17
final2year	1995
final2team	Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
statleague	MLB
stat1label	Win–loss record
stat1value	31–36
stat2label	Earned run average
stat2value	3.43
stat3label	Strikeouts
stat3value	376
stat4label	Saves
stat4value	201
stat2league	NPB
stat21label	Win–loss record
stat21value	3–3
stat22label	Earned run average
stat22value	1.94
stat23label	Strikeouts
stat23value	31
stat24label	Saves
stat24value	20
::

Chicago White Sox (–)
Philadelphia Phillies ()
Seattle Mariners ()
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks (–) |highlights=
All-Star (1990)
AL Rolaids Relief Man Award (1990)
AL saves leader (1990) Robert Thomas Thigpen (born July 17, 1963) is an American former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. He is noted for setting the major league record of 57 saves during the season, which has since been broken by former Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Francisco Rodríguez. He is the former pitching coach of the Winston-Salem Dash. He is also the former bullpen coach for the Chicago White Sox.

Baseball career

Thigpen was a three sport star at Aucilla Christian Academy near Monticello, Florida. As a member of the baseball team he played for longtime Aucilla coach, Ray Hughes. A pitcher and shortstop in high school, he led the Warriors to the 1981 Class A state championship game.

He played two years at Seminole Community College, after which he moved on to pitch and play the outfield for Mississippi State University and coach Ron Polk. Among his teammates were future major-leaguers Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro and Jeff Brantley. Thigpen was part of MSU's 1985 College World Series team, recording a .305 batting average and saving seven games during the season.

Thigpen was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the fourth round of the 1985 amateur draft. He made the major leagues the next August and moved into the White Sox's closer role. After two straight 30-save seasons, Thigpen had the best season of his career in 1990, setting the then-major league record of 57 saves (his record was eclipsed by Francisco Rodríguez when he made 62 saves in 2008). He also maintained a 1.83 ERA and was named to the AL All-Star team. He also blew eight saves that season, including two three-run leads.

He later battled injuries, starting with a back problem developed after the 1990 season, when some players went on an exhibition tour of Japan. Thigpen's effectiveness waned and he was supplanted in the closer role by Roberto Hernández.

During the season, Thigpen was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for José DeLeón, and pitched in the NLCS and World Series for Philadelphia. The following season, he signed with the Seattle Mariners in a minor league contract, who released him on April 29. He joined the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and attempted to return to the majors in 1996, only to be derailed by back problems, which ended his career.

Thigpen's 201 career saves rank him 46th on the all-time saves list.

Post-baseball injury

In 2003, Thigpen was leaving a Stanley Cup playoff game at the St. Pete Times Forum when he tripped and fell on the stairs, triggering massive internal bleeding. "He had about a gallon of blood in his abdomen", said Dr. Kevin Hirsch, a trauma surgeon at Bayfront Medical Center who operated on Thigpen. "He had significant bleeding in and around his pancreas and kidney that we had to go in and stop." Thigpen spent a week in the hospital and recovered.

References

"Mariners vs. Angels - Box Score - September 13, 2008 - ESPN".
(1994). "Bo officially an Angel". The Naples Daily News.
"Archived copy".

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