About Tommy Holmes
Thomas Francis Holmes (March 29, 1917 – April 14, 2008) was an American right and center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played nearly his entire career for the Boston Braves. He hit over.300 lifetime (.302) and every year from 1944 through 1948, peaking with a.352 mark in 1945 when he finished second in the National League batting race and was runner-up for the NL's Most Valuable Player Award. == Career == Holmes was born in Brooklyn, New York. As a youth, he trained to be a boxer but his father forbade him to pursue the sport professionally. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School where he had batting averages of.613 and.585 in various seasons, attracting the attention of major league scouts. As a high schooler, Holmes also played semiprofessional games on Sundays for $5 per game (equivalent to $124.36 in 2025). Holmes, who batted and threw left-handed, signed his first professional contract with the New York Yankees, but could not break into their outfield of Joe DiMaggio, Tommy Henrich and Charlie Keller. After three over-.300 seasons with the Yanks' top farm team, the Newark Bears, he was traded to the Boston Braves in February 1942. Given a regular major league job at last, he hit over.300 for five consecutive seasons (1944–48). In 1944, Holmes was deemed ineligible for service in World War II due to an untreatable sinus condition.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.