Milwaukee Brewers In 1971, Thomas played Class A baseball in the Milwaukee system with the
Danville Warriors that year. Thomas led the
Midwest League in both home runs (31) and strikeouts (170). The next year with the Class AA
San Antonio Brewers, Thomas led the
Texas League in the same two categories, registering 26 home runs and 171 strikeouts in 135 games. Thomas spent parts of 1973 and 1974 in the major leagues with the Brewers, but he mostly played Class AAA baseball during those seasons. With the
Sacramento Solons of the
Pacific Coast League in 1974, Thomas finished second in the league in home runs (51), third in RBI (122), fourth in walks (93), third in runs scored (117) and first in strikeouts (175). He spent most of the next two years on the bench with the Brewers, but he enjoyed being teammates with
Hank Aaron during Aaron's last two MLB seasons. After the season, Thomas was traded to the
Texas Rangers as the
player to be named later in an earlier trade for
Ed Kirkpatrick. Becoming an everyday center fielder for the Brewers in 1978, Thomas batted .246 with 32 home runs and 86 RBI in 137 games. Thomas was affectionately known as "Stormin' Gorman." In 1980, Thomas had another productive season, batting .239 with 38 home runs and 105 RBI while playing in all 162 games. and he recorded 112 RBI to help the Brewers win the
American League East. While with the Brewers, Thomas opened a bar in Milwaukee with pitcher
Pete Vuckovich. It was called "Stormin' & Vuke's", a play on their nicknames.
Trade to the Indians Thomas was dealt along with
Jamie Easterly and
Ernie Camacho from the
Brewers to the
Cleveland Indians for
Rick Manning and
Rick Waits on June 6, 1983. Thomas's play had declined late in the 1982 season; he hit .181 after September 1, and he had only four hits in 41 at bats (.098) in the 1982 postseason. After the 1983 season, Thomas expressed his desire for another trade, saying that he did not feel comfortable playing in Cleveland. In 1983, he batted a combined .209 with 22 home runs and 69 RBI in 152 games with Milwaukee and Cleveland. Thomas played in only 35 games for Mariners in 1984, batting just .157 with a home run and 13 RBI before he underwent season-ending rotator cuff surgery in June. In spring training before the 1985 season, Thomas had some difficulty with the timing of his swing, but he was able to swing without pain and he was looking forward to assuming Seattle's designated hitter role. Thomas was selected as
The Sporting News AL Comeback Player of the Year in 1985, as he became the first player in Mariners history to hit 30 home runs in a season. He finished the season batting .215 with 32 home runs and 87 RBI in 135 games. After
Dick Williams took over as the manager in Seattle toward the beginning of the 1986 season, Thomas saw decreased playing time. By late June, he was hitting .194 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI in 57 games, Thomas was making $650,000 that season and Mariners owner
George Argyros had to absorb the loss of $361,000 that was still owed to Thomas under that contract. Thomas contemplated retirement, and he turned down a contract offer from the
Detroit Tigers, but he signed with the Brewers a couple of weeks later to fill a designated hitter and pinch hitter role. Thomas retired after the 1986 season. He was a career .225 hitter (.324
on-base percentage) with 268 home runs and 782 RBI in 1,435 games. ==Later life==