Knocky Thomas

Frederick Bendall "Little Knocky" Thomas


Born:
March 12, 1914
Washington, DC

Died:
February 9, 2007
Colonial Beach, VA


Career
1932-33 McKinley Tech - Washington (High School)
1934-35 University of Maryland (College)
1935-36 University of Maryland (College)
1936-37 University of Maryland (College)
1938-39 Washington Brewers (ABL)

Born in DC, Fred's older brother Lewis was also known as "Knocky," so much like baseball's Waner Brothers, Lewis was known as "Big Knocky" and Fred as "Little Knocky." Fred was a baseball star and basketball star in high school, which lead to an athletic scholarship at Maryland. After college, he signed with the Washington Senators, and was a catcher in D- and C- Class Minor Leagues. He also played pro basketball for the Washington Heurich Brewers. Although he never progressed further as a full professional athlete, he continued to play baseball for the corporate semi-pro team and amateru sandlot teams into his 40's. He worked for twenty years for the U.S. Post Office and later the Department of Motor Vehicles, retiring in 1974. He was 92 years old when he died in 2007.

Knocky was married to Lilah Reed (1912-1995) and they had two daughters. He divorced from Lilah and remarried to Marion (d. 2006).

Minor League Baseball Stats:

Source:
Washington Post Obituary, March 17, 2007

Stats:
http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/knocky-thomas/