Grant Thatcher

Who was Grant Thatcher?

Ulysses Grant Thatcher was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Born in Maytown, Pennsylvania, he pitched in five games for the Brooklyn Superbas during the 1903 and 1904 baseball seasons, making four starts, and acquiring a 4–1 record with a 3.16 earned run average during his appearances. He died at age 59 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Thatcher had an unusual end to his Major League career. When the Superbas attempted to play a second Sunday home game on the 24th of April against the Philadelphia Phillies, the club was tipped off that the pitcher, catcher and hitter at the start of the game would be arrested. Thus three "decoys" were inserted at the start of the game, with Ed Poole being replaced by Thatcher after Poole's arrest.