Thon's son carving his own path with Astros
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Although his career never reached its full potential after he was beaned in the eye by a pitch in 1984 and suffered vision problems, Dickie Thon’s name remains Astros royalty. The ties between the Thon family and Houston remain strong to this day, with his son, Dickie Joe Thon, serving as the Astros’ Double-A manager at Corpus Christi.
“It’s definitely special, especially since I wasn’t really planning on coaching at all,” Joe Thon said. “It just so happens I ended up with the Astros. …. It’s really kind of full circle, kind of cool, to be in this opportunity.”
Thon, 31, was a baby when his father retired in 1993, so he doesn’t have any memories of him as a player. He does have fuzzy memories of being in the Astrodome as a youngster and being wowed by the Eighth Wonder of the World.
“It was an other-world experience,” he said. “I remember that when I was a kid. It was ingrained in my brain. It was absolutely amazing.”
Born Richard Joseph Thon in Houston in 1991, he was drafted out of high school in Puerto Rico by the Blue Jays in 2010. Thon played seven seasons in the Minor Leagues, topping out at Double-A with the Cardinals in ‘17. He attended the University of Houston and studied finance and real estate before a close friend -- former Rice University second baseman Enrique Cruz, who’s the son of Astros legend Jose Cruz -- told him the Cougars needed a student assistant.
Thon reached out to Houston coach Todd Whitting, who brought him into the program in August 2019 before becoming the volunteer assistant prior to the ‘20 season.
“It kind of just snowballed after that,” Thon said. “I was out of the game maybe two years, trying to get my degree. That’s how I got my itch back on the field.”
Thon, who had a business internship with the Astros in 2019, was named the development coach at Low-A Fayetteville in ‘21. Among the prospects on Corpus Christi’s ‘23 roster are center fielder Drew Gilbert (Houston’s No. 1 prospect), outfielder Colin Barber (No. 3), infielder Will Wagner (No. 12) and pitchers Colton Gordon (No. 8) and Spencer Arrighetti (No. 9).
“The team here is very, very talented,” Thon said. “It’s fun to see on a nightly basis. The easy part about it, too, is the way they go about their business. Luckily, these guys have learned to prepare themselves throughout the years of how to be ready on a day-to-day basis. It kind of makes my life a little easier.”
Dickie Thon, who was signed by the Angels as an amateur free agent and made his big league debut in 1979 at age 20, was traded to the Astros from the Angels on April Fool’s Day of ‘81 in exchange for Ken Forsch. Thon earned his first significant playing time in ‘82, when he appeared in 136 games for the Astros, hitting .276 with 10 triples and 37 stolen bases.
In 1983, he hit .286 with 20 homers, 79 RBIs and 34 steals and was named to the All-Star team, winning a Silver Slugger Award and finishing seventh in NL MVP voting. The Astros found their shortstop of the future. And then tragedy struck. On April 8, 1984, in a game against the Mets in the Astrodome, Thon was struck in the face by a pitch thrown by Mike Torrez.
The pitch broke the orbital bone around his eye and ended his season, altering his career forever. Thon returned to the field a year later, but he had ongoing problems with depth perception and never was the same, though he played 10 more years. He retired following the 1993 season with 1,176 hits in his 15-year career.
“Dickie was probably going to be a Hall of Fame player,” teammate Enos Cabell said. “He knew how to play. Dickie became a really good ballplayer even after the head injury.”
Joe Thon said his father is doing well and is retired in Puerto Rico.
“It’s kind of hard to get him out of the island,” he joked.