On this day in 1990, Bobby Thigpen broke Dave Righetti's save record.
In the ninth inning, manager Jeff Torborg made a couple of changes. First, he replaced Frank Thomas at first base with Steve Lyons. Then he replaced pitcher Barry Jones with Bobby Thigpen. The crowd at Comiskey Park went wild when Thiggy took the mound. Royals manager John Wathan made one move of his own. He replaced third baseman Bill Pecota, who was leading off, with Kevin Seitzer. Seitzer proceeded to ground out to shortstop Ozzie Guillen. Center fielder Brian McCrae hit a ground ball between second and first. Future Hall of Famer George Brett, who was the designated hitter that night, stepped into the batter's box. Brett hit a ground ball to second baseman Scott Fletcher, who threw to Guillen, who stepped on second and threw to Lyons for the double play. Thigpen had saved his forty-seventh game, a new record. He would go on to record fifty-seven saved in 1990, a record that would stand until 2008, when Francisco Rodriguez broke the mark with sixty-two.
Bobby was drafted by the White Sox in the 1985 June amateur draft, in the fourth round. He spent eight seasons with the White Sox, racking up 201 saves. He was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies on August 10, 1993 for pitcher Jose DeLeon. Thigpen signed with the Seattle Mariners before the 1994 season and pitched in seven games for the team before being released. Bobby went to Japan and played with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks for the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Thigpen was back in the White Sox organization in 1996, but never made it past AAA. Bobby is currently a pitching coach in the White Sox minor league organization.
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