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 55th on the all-time saves list. ==Post-baseball injury==