David Thomas (March 22, 1905 – July 27, 1968), nicknamed "Showboat", was an American first baseman in the Negro leagues from 1929 to 1946. A native of Mobile, Alabama, Thomas is considered one of the greatest defensive first basemen in Negro leagues history. In 1945 at age 40, he and Terris McDuffie were given a tryout by Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers, two years prior to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the baseball color line. Thomas died in Mobile in 1968 at age 63. References External links and Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats and Seamheads 1905 births 1968 deaths Baltimore Black Sox players Birmingham Black Barons players Brooklyn Royal Giants players New York Black Yankees players New York Cubans players Washington Black Senators players Baseball first basemen Baseball players from Alabama Sportspeople from Mobile, Alabama 20th-century African-American sportspeople