When John Parkinson Thompson died in 1938, The Free Press sent off the old ballplayer in style. The first sentence of its obituary for the "catcher of the Atlantics baseball team" ran to more than 60 words. The convoluted claims on Thompson's behalf stopped partway through that majestic sentence to say he had been "struck out by the Grim Reaper." It also said he would be watching a reunion game he was to have attended "from that shadowed stand where rest the other old-timers who have already joined the great majority of London's baseball pioneers."

Three score and five years ago, the nameless Free Press writer failed to mention that Thompson is believed to have been the first Londoner to play in the bigs. Even if that is disputable, it is odd the writer didn't note Thompson's major-league connections.

Thompson's career in the bigs was brief. He played one game in 1882 for Cincinnati, the basis of a claim for being London's first big-leaguer, and 24 more with Indianapolis in 1884. Both teams were in the long-vanished American Association.

Having written about Thompson before, I sympathize with that Free Press writer. On my first try, I missed a lot, too.

With help from his granddaughter-in-law, Jane (Matthews) Thompson of London and other sources, it is possible to draw a much better picture of the man.

There must have been some undeniable athlete gene in the mix. Thompson's descendants include his late grandson, the London high school track, football and basketball star and CFLer Doug (Nobby) Thompson, husband to Jane Thompson. Then, there is his great-grandson, London high school and Canadian university football star and fine London amateur baseball player Richard Thompson.

In another part of the family tree are great-grandchildren Sue Hatch and John Hatch, among London's finest tennis players.

Family and baptismal records have John Parkinson Thompson being born in London on Sept. 5, 1856. (The encyclopedias have him born in 1865). Like that year of birth, other information on Thompson in the official record is suspect. He is known as "Tug" in the books, but the family called him "Bull" or "Jack."

Census material for 1870-1871 supplied by London historian Michael Murphy shows him as third oldest in a large family being raised by Simpson Thompson, a tanner, and Sarah Ann Thompson. (The baptismal record at St. Paul's Cathedral has his mother as Sarah Anne).

John P. Thompson had eight sisters and two brothers when the census was taken. Simpson was a Methodist, but Sarah Ann(e) was Church of England. The children were Anglicans.

John P. Thompson died at 81 on Aug. 1, 1938, at the Guelph-area home of a daughter.

He was to have been at Labatt Park the next day for an old-timers' baseball reunion. It would have brought together Thompson, Bob Emslie of St. Thomas and William A. Reid of London.

As the surviving members of the 1876-1880 Atlantics, amateur champions of the era, the three symbolized a classic era in London baseball. My impression is the Atlantics were second only to the great London Tecumsehs, a pro outfit. The Tecumsehs were strengthened by many American imports, including the great pitcher Fred Goldsmith. Before collapsing a year later, the Tecumsehs won an international title in 1877.

Family lore has Thompson catching Goldsmith at some point. The Free Press obituary also has him playing for the Tecumsehs. So do some researchers into baseball's 19th-century glories. Others don't think so. Perhaps he played with a later edition of the team.

It is likely Thompson caught Emslie when the Atlantics, as "amateur champions of Canada," played their pro big brothers in exhibition games here. Emslie started out as a pitcher and wound up being a famous major-league umpire.

Researchers also have Thompsons playing in the 1870s and '80s with teams at Harriston, Guelph, Bay City, Grand Rapids, Port Huron and Toledo. In the major leagues, he played 13 games as an outfielder and 12 as a catcher.

He may have been back in London late in the 1884 season. The Free Press "base ball" coverage for September of that year has a catcher called Thompson playing for "the Londons" against visiting teams from Hamilton and Petrolia.

No first name is given, but was it our man? If so, he didn't slow down after his return from the bigs. In one game, "Thompson" slid into home plate, "made several beautiful hits" and was "loudly cheered" for his efforts.

In another game, Thompson had two passed balls and an error to go with his two runs, four put-outs and and two assists.

During Thompson's era, players often took the field without gloves. Family memories have Thompson catching bare-handed. The family remembers his hands being marked by the injuries and scrapes he cheerfully suffered while playing ball.

After his ball career was done, Thompson worked for the railway. He started as a switchman in the London yards on July 1, 1905. By 1918, he had been promoted to passenger trainman after stints as a yardman and yard foreman. He retired in the early 1930s.

Thompson's marriage to Catherine Delaney, an Irish Catholic, is remembered as creating a stir in those intolerant times. The family lived at 654 Elias St. One of the Thompsons' sons, Herbert, lived not far away on Elias Street. A daughter lived nearby at 835 Lorne Ave. The funeral service for John P. Thompson was conducted at the Lorne Avenue house before his burial at Woodland Cemetery.

Herbert Thompson was not an athlete, but his son, Doug, become one of the multi-sport legends at the old Beck collegiate. Then Richard Thompson proved to be one of the football greats at South secondary school. Richard, now 37, also starred with the London Majors baseball team in the 1980s and 1990s, winning batting titles and rookie-of-the-year and all-star honours.

In the 1980s, I enjoyed covering a young Richard Thompson when he played with another London baseball team, the Royals.

He covered centre field at Labatt Park with easy, powerful strides. He hit with power. He was a natural.

Now that I know more about Richard's great-grandfather, I like to think The Free Press of 1938 was right about John P. Thompson, who played ball on that same field 100 years earlier.

Maybe John Parkinson Thompson has been watching from "that shadowed stand" all along.

Wherever he is, he must be smiling.