JERSEY CITY, NJ…On Thursday, September 22, JONATHAN THOMAS (Newark, NJ/St. Benedict’s Prep), a four-year standout at catcher, designated hitter, and left fielder for the New Jersey City University baseball team, signed a professional free agent contract with the Newark Bears, of the independent Atlantic League. In the final two games of the season, he made a huge impression.
Thomas, a May 2005 graduate of the University, made his debut for the Bears on Saturday, September 24 in an 8-7 victory over the Lancaster Barnstormers in Lancaster, PA, and was promptly booed by the hometown fans. That’s because he went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, one run, one stolen base, and a hit by pitch. He reached base safely in four of his five plate appearances.
Thomas notched singles in his first three at-bats for the Bears, swinging at the first pitch in his initial two appearances. He tallied a two-run single in the third inning which gave Newark a 5-2 lead.
In Newark’s final game of the year on Sunday, Thomas went 1-for-3 with one steal and a sixth-inning RBI single that gave the Bears a 6-2 advantage, before losing late, 7-6.
In his two games with the Bears, Thomas batted .571 (4-7) with three RBIs, two steals, one run, and one strikeout, and owned a .667 on-base percentage and .571 slugging rate. He batted in the ninth slot in each game, playing designated hitter and left field.
His production should get him a spring training invite in 2006, and he hinted at potentially playing winter ball this year in Venezuela or Colombia.
“The atmosphere was the best I’ve ever played in front of, with 7000 people cheering against you,” Thomas said of the experience. Lancaster had an attendance of 7357 in his debut.
Thomas was the first NJCU player to sign a deal with a major league baseball club since Matt Baker was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 1984.
Thomas began his professional career on June 24, 2004 when he signed a professional free agent minor league baseball contract with the Kansas City Royals. That summer, he saw limited action with the Arizona Royals-1 club in the 8-team Arizona Rookie League, collecting one professional hit in roughly a dozen at bats. After hitting over .300 in spring training in 2005, he was released by the organization, and had been seeking a new club, before the Bears inked him to a brief deal.
Thomas, a two-year team co-captain who began his career at NJCU as a walk-on in 2000, was named Second-Team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference in 2004 for the second time in his career, after also earning All-NJAC Second-Team accolades in 2002 as a sophomore. He was also named to the 2004 Division II/III Second-Team All-State team by the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association.
Thomas finished his career as one of the top all-around offensive players in school history. Hard work, goal-setting, and dedication reaped its rewards, because Thomas left NJCU ranking in the Top five in school history in four major categories, among the Top 10 in 10 areas, and on the Top 20 charts in 14 statistical fields. He finished his career batting .384 (149-for-388) with 97 runs, 61 RBIs, 24 doubles, seven triples, two homeruns, 47 walks, and 43 steals in 48 attempts (.896 success rate).
His lifetime .384 batting average is third in school history. He ranks third in school history in runs, missing by just three of becoming the third player at NJCU to score 100 runs and register 100 hits.
His 149 hits are fifth in school history. He has a lifetime on-base percentage of .463, which also is fifth in the 56-year history of the NJCU program.
In March 2004, Thomas was named the Division III National Hitter of the Week, the first time an NJCU player had ever been honored. He was also the NJAC Player of the Week.
His memorable week set the tone for a tremendous senior campaign, in which he batted .442 with 57 hits in 129 at-bats, and swiped 24 bases in 26 attempts (.923). He also scored 37 runs, and notched six doubles, two triples, 22 walks and 19 RBIs. His final on-base percentage was .532. He finished the year ranking 22nd in the nation in batting average, and 19th in stolen bases.
Considering the school record for batting in a season is .511, his .442 clip was the third highest single-season average in school history, while his 24 steals tied him for fifth in one year at NJCU. He was also an assistant in the NJCU Office of Sports Information during the 2003-04 campaign.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
