Tom Lampkin

“WHEN HE WENT up for his last at-bat, I looked up and saw his stats: 69 home runs, 144 RBIs, and I’m thinking, ‘Look at that; that’s not a season, that’s a career,’” Tom Lampkin said about his best friend, Mark McGwire. Lampkin had that thought during the last game of the 1998 season, just before McGwire hit his 70th home run. Indeed, Lampkin would hit 56 home runs over the course of his 13-year major-league career.

Thomas Michael Lampkin was born in Cincinnati to Mike and Shirley Lampkin on March 4, 1964. He had an older sister, Theresa. And three younger brothers, Andy, Dave, and Steve. The family moved to Northern Virginia for a short time and when Tom was 8 years old, his family moved to Bellevue, Washington, near Seattle.1 They relocated because Mike bought a local office supply store.2 Shirley had a day-care business as well as being the homemaker.

The four boys all played baseball and football, and Theresa was a swimmer. Mike coached Tom in baseball from the ages of 5 to 17 and had Mariners season tickets right behind the dugout. Because there were more kids in the family than season tickets, Tom and his siblings had to pick which games they wanted the box seats for. The others sat out in the bleachers.3

Tom played baseball and football at Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle. While in high school, he was a clubhouse assistant for the Mariners at the Kingdome from 1979 through 1981.4

Lampkin played baseball for one season at Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood, Washington, before transferring to the University of Portland. That was a good move; the university’s baseball program was an affiliate member of the Pac-10, and many scouts attended their games.

Lampkin, a left-handed-hitting catcher, played for the University of Portland Pilots from 1984 to 1986. He was named second-team All-Pac-10 in 1985, when he led the team with a .333 batting average, and first-team All-Pac-10 in 1986. He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2005.5

On June 2, 1986, Lampkin was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 11th round of the amateur draft. Indians scout and former big-league infielder/catcher Dave Roberts signed Lampkin on June 10.6 He was sent to the Batavia Trojans of the short-season Class-A New York-Penn League, where he hit .258 in 63 games as the starting catcher.

The 23-year-old was promoted to the Waterloo Indians of the Class-A Midwest League for the 1987 season. In 118 games, Lampkin batted .266 with 106 hits.

Lampkin continued his rapid progression through the minors in 1988. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound backstop played 80 games for the Williamsport Bills of the Double-A Eastern League, where he batted .270 and made the all-star team. In July, Indians catcher Andy Allanson was injured, so catcher Ron Tingley was called up to the majors from Triple-A Colorado Springs, and Lampkin moved up to Colorado Springs, where he hit .280 in 34 games. Then in September, when rosters expanded, Lampkin was called up to the Indians along with Jay Bell, Eddie Williams, and Rod Allen, and made his major-league debut on September 10, 1988, against Roger Clemens and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Lampkin came in to catch the eighth inning but did not get to bat against Clemens, who threw a one-hitter that day. Lampkin’s first major-league at-bat came against the Detroit Tigers on September 26. He pinch-hit for Jay Bell in the ninth and grounded out to second off Tigers pitcher Mike Henneman.7 He appeared in two more games for the Indians, making his first start on September 30. In five plate appearances that September, he was 0-for-4 with a walk.

The Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League was Lampkin’s destination to start the 1989 season. He played under Mike Hargrove, who had been his hitting coach in Batavia and his manager in Williamsport. Lampkin was limited to just 63 games, hitting .321. He tore ligaments in his thumb in a freak accident when he tried to throw a runner out at third and his thumb hit the bat of Mickey Brantley.8

Lampkin returned to Colorado Springs to start the 1990 season and played in 69 games, batting .221.

During his time with the Indians organization, Lampkin progressed through the minors with Mike Hargrove. Hargrove, whose playing career ended after the 1985 season, began his 21-year coaching and managerial career with the Indians in 1986 as hitting coach with Batavia, Lampkin’s first minor-league stop. In 1987 Hargrove managed in Kinston, while Lampkin played for Waterloo, but the two were back together in 1988 in Williamsport and 1989 in Colorado Springs with Lampkin catching and Hargrove managing. In 1990 Hargrove moved up to the Indians as their first-base coach, while Lampkin played for Colorado Springs.

On July 11, 1990, the Indians traded Lampkin to the San Diego Padres for Alex Cole. The Padres needed catching help after starter Benito Santiago suffered a broken hand when he was hit by a pitch. Lampkin became the backup for Santiago’s replacement, Mark Parent. On July 17 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Lampkin recorded his first two major-league hits. After grounding out to second base in the second inning, he led off the top of the fifth with a line-drive hit to right field off Cubs pitcher Shawn Boskie. In his next at-bat, in the seventh inning, Lampkin singled to center. In the top of the ninth, he flied out to right field to finish the game 2-for-4. “It was a great feeling,” Lampkin said afterward. “I knew I’d get it sooner or later as long as I stayed up, but it was something I’ll always treasure. I just wish I could have gotten it under more pleasant circumstances, and we had won.”9

On July 28 against the Astros, Lampkin hit his first career home run, a solo shot against former Cy Young Award winner Mike Scott. It would be nearly three more years before Lampkin hit his second big-league round-tripper.

Lampkin split time between Las Vegas and the Padres over the next two seasons. He posted batting averages of .317 in 1991 and .306 in 1992 with the Las Vegas Stars of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, earning him call-ups to the Padres both years.

With the Padres, Tony Gwynn became Lampkin’s mentor. Gwynn worked with Lampkin in the batting cage daily, teaching him the art of hitting.10 Both men got to the ballpark early, and Gwynn invited Lampkin into the cage to work with him every day.11

After 2½ seasons with the Padres, Lampkin’s contract was sold to the Milwaukee Brewers on March 25, 1993. He split time between the Brewers and their Triple-A affiliate, the New Orleans Zephyrs of the American Association. He hit .325 with the Zephyrs and .198 in 162 at-bats with the Brewers. The 29-year-old was granted free agency on December 20.

It was in Milwaukee that Lampkin learned how to hit for power. To that point in his career, he had been a self-described slap hitter. One day during early batting practice, teammate Kevin Reimer asked, “Is that all you got? Can you hit the ball out of the park?”12 Lampkin had never thought about hitting in that way. From that day forward, he changed his stance, approach, and attitude. He realized that he could, in fact, hit the ball out of the park. The key, he found, was figuring out what pitches he could hit out. By trying to hit home runs in batting practice, he learned which pitches to try to hit for a homer and which ones to lay off.13

It didn’t take free agent Lampkin long to sign with another team. He joined the San Francisco Giants on January 5, 1994. The 30-year-old backstop spent the whole 1994 season with the Triple-A Phoenix Firebirds of the Pacific Coast League, hitting .300 with 8 home runs and 70 RBIs in 118 games.

Lampkin spent the entire 1995 and 1996 seasons with the Giants, with the exception of a short rehab stint with Class-A San Jose. The Giants were managed by Dusty Baker and had Kirt Manwaring and Jeff Reed as the two main catchers in 1995. In 1996 Lampkin caught his most games for the Giants with 66 appearances after Manwaring was traded to the Houston Astros. He shared time behind the plate with Rick Wilkins (52 games), Manwaring (49 games), and Steve Decker (57 games). Lampkin nailed 17 of 33 baserunners trying to steal – a National League-best 51.5 percent.14

On December 19, 1996, the Giants traded Lampkin to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later, who turned out to be René Arocha. Lampkin spent the 1997 and 1998 seasons with the Cardinals under Tony La Russa. In 1997 he shared time behind the plate with Mike Difelice and Tom Pagnozzi and appeared in a career-high 108 games.

Injuries to Pagnozzi to begin both the 1997 and 1998 seasons gave Lampkin the opportunity to start on Opening Day both years. (Pagnozzi strained a calf muscle during spring training in 1997. Shortly after his return, he suffered a torn hip flexor, sidelining him until August.) At the beginning of the 1998 season, Pagnozzi, Eli Marrero, and Lampkin were penciled in as the three Cardinals catchers for the coming season, but Marrero had his thyroid gland removed and Pagnozzi was sidelined with a shoulder problem to begin the season, so Lampkin was the starting catcher again on Opening Day.15

Lampkin and Marrero split time behind the plate in 1998. Lampkin hit .231 with 6 home runs and had a view from the dugout of teammate Mark McGwire hitting 70 home runs while dueling with the Cubs’ Sammy Sosa in one of the best home-run battles in baseball history. Lampkin later described McGwire’s run as “magical … uplifting in a way that was somehow like watching our [three] children born.”16

On October 23, 1998, the 34-year-old Lampkin was granted free agency. Seven weeks later, on December 14, he signed a two-year contract with the Mariners. Joining the Mariners was exciting for Lampkin. With the Mariners moving into Safeco Field after the All-Star break, he was able to play half the season in the Kingdome, where he had worked as a clubhouse boy as a teenager.

With Lou Piniella at the helm and Dan Wilson as the starting catcher, Lampkin appeared in 76 games, hitting .291 with 9 home runs and 34 RBIs in 1999.

Lampkin was always trying to improve his game. An example came before the 1999 season, when he worked with baserunning coach Vince Coleman to learn what good baserunners think.17

On June 26, in the next to last game at the Kingdome before the Mariners’ move next door to Safeco Field, Lampkin hit his first home run at the ballpark he grew up in. Lampkin went 3-for-4 with a single, double, home run and two RBIs. It was his only home run at the Kingdome.

Lampkin walked it off in the new Safeco Field on September 8, with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to secure a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Jay Buhner led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, and relief pitcher Bill Koch got two pitches by Lampkin, but Lampkin put the next pitch into the seats for the walk-off. “I don’t know what the pitch was. Something hard,” Lampkin said after the game. “I didn’t think it was enough to get out of here. [Koch] supplied most of the power. I just caught it out front and the backspin kept the ball going. I didn’t know it was out until I saw Shawn [Green] get to the fence.”18

With players like John Olerud, Álex Rodríguez, Jay Buhner, and Edgar Martínez, the 2000 Mariners had potential to be great. They finished in second place in the AL West Division with a 91-71 record and lost to the Yankees in the AL Championship Series. Lampkin, a .252 hitter with 7 home runs in 36 games, shared time behind the plate with Wilson and Joe Oliver. On June 25 he hit the first grand slam of his career, accounting for all four Seattle runs in a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Three days later, he landed on the disabled list because of a right elbow injury. On June 30 he underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery. “That’s a big blow for us,” said pitcher Aaron Sele. “Tom is a big part of this team.”19

Doctors estimated a recovery time of 10 to 12 months, but Lampkin rehabbed with a goal of being ready by the following spring training. He became a free agent at the end of the 2000 season and re-signed with the Mariners for another year at $1.1 million with a team option that would become guaranteed if he met certain thresholds, including playing in 75 games. The 37-year-old was ready by Opening Day and served as Wilson’s backup in 2001. Lampkin played 79 games, triggering his vesting option for 2002, and hit .225 with 5 home runs. His 27.8 caught-stealing percentage was well below his previous career mark of 36.3 percent, an indicator that his throwing arm had perhaps not returned to full strength after surgery. New additions to the roster included Bret Boone (37 home runs and 141 RBIs) and Ichiro Suzuki (242 hits and 56 stolen bases). The 2001 Mariners won 116 games but lost to the New York Yankees in the ALCS. In seven postseason plate appearances, Lampkin was 1-for-6 with a walk and four strikeouts.

On December 11, 2001, Lampkin was traded along with Brett Tomko, Ramón Vázquez, and cash to the San Diego Padres for Alex Arias, Ben Davis, and Wascar Serrano. Lampkin was on a snowmobile trip with fellow major leaguers Richie Sexson and Alan Embree when he learned about the trade. The news came as a shock, and he declined to speak to the press at the time for fear of saying something he might regret. “When I went to Seattle I hoped to finish my career there,” Lampkin told the Seattle Times the following spring. “Now I’d like to finish it in San Diego.”20

The 38-year-old Lampkin played in 104 games for the Padres in 2002. He hit .217 and set career highs with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs under manager Bruce Bochy. Besides Bochy, Lampkin played for legendary managers Dusty Baker, Tony La Russa, and Lou Piniella during his last eight years (1995-2002) in the majors.

Lampkin retired from playing after the 2002 season. In parts of 13 big-league seasons, he played in 777 games, posting a slash line of .235/.319/.381 with 56 homers and 236 RBIs. Reflecting back on his career, he said he enjoyed playing in the Pacific Coast League. He liked the ballparks and the restaurants as well as the cities of Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Tucson. He enjoyed road trips to Tacoma or Portland so he could visit family.21

During his career, Lampkin noticed how great players motivated themselves. “You have to convince yourself that you were better than you are,” Lampkin said in 2023. “Bonds was the best at that … The confidence that he had … made him better than he actually was.” Lampkin observed that Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Deion Sanders, Álex Rodríguez, Edgar Martínez, Matt Williams, and Robin Yount were all good self-motivators. “They all convinced themselves that they were good,” he said.22

In the same vein, Lampkin remarked how his successful teammates handled failure, something he struggled with early in his career. By observing how great players took failure in stride and came back in their next at-bat, he came to realize that failure is a part of the game.

On playing with McGwire in 1998, Lampkin said, “The opposing team knew Mac was going to homer. And the pitchers knew he was going to homer. Everybody thought it, and everybody knew it. … With that mindset, it’s going to happen.”23

He observed a similar type of kismet with the 2001 Mariners. “I remember being on the bench during the games. If we were down … we knew we were going to win, and everyone knew we were going to win.”24

After his playing days were over, Lampkin lived in Vancouver, Washington, and coached baseball at Union High School from about 2007 to 2014. He coached his son, Thomas Jr., who then played at Lewis-Clark State College. In 2023 Lampkin described the advice he gives to young players: “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Seek out people who have done what you want to do. A coach who never played above the college level won’t know the grind of playing every day as well as a coach who has played every day in the minors or majors.”25

Lampkin got his general-contracting license and performed remodeling work for a time. As of 2025, he did some farming and owned a few cows and horses.

He and his wife, Lori Kath, met while at the University of Portland and were married in 1988. They have three grown children; Jennifer, Stephanie, and Thomas Michael.26

SOURCES

In preparing this biography, the author used Retrosheet.org and Baseball-Reference.com for stats and game information, as well as a phone conversation and email correspondence with Tom Lampkin and an in-person interview on September 30, 2025.

NOTES

1 Tom Lampkin, “Tom Lampkin’s Career and the Return to his Home Town,” Interview by Connor Webb. Couch GM Podcast, September 22, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SorC_U3Ruo. Retrieved on August 18, 2025.

2 Author interview with Tom Lampkin, September 30, 2025.

3 John McGrath, “Homer Means Goodbye for Career ’Domer,” Tacoma (Washington) News Tribune, June 27, 1999: 23.

4 McGrath.

5 https://portlandpilots.com/honors/hall-of-fame/tom-lampkin/10.

6 Lampkin interview.

7 Lampkin interview.

8 Lampkin interview.

9 Bob Nightengale, “Padres Tell Alomar to Sit Down: Baseball: After 7-2 loss in Chicago, Riddoch sends ‘tired’ infielder to bench and also learns that pitcher Mike Dunn will be out indefinitely after suffering broken leg,” Los Angeles Times, July 18, 1990, Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-18-sp-557-story.html.

10 Lampkin, “Tom Lampkin’s Career and the Return to his Home Town.”

11 Lampkin interview.

12 Lampkin, “Tom Lampkin’s Career and the Return to his Home Town.”

13 Lampkin interview.

14 Mark Tomasik, “How Tom Lampkin Came In to Rescue the Cardinals,” RetroSimba, December 17, 2021, Retrieved from https://retrosimba.com/2021/12/17/how-tom-lampkin-came-to-the-rescue-of-cardinals/.

15 Tomasik.

16 Bob Finnigan, “Lampkin Catches On with M’s,” Seattle Times, December 11, 1998: D8.

17 Dave Grosby, “Groz Remembers 2001 Mariners: Tom Lampkin, the Kingdome Clubhouse Boy Who Joined His Hometown Team,” SeattleSports, June 9, 2021.Retrieved from https://sports.mynorthwest.com/mlb/seattle-mariners/groz-2001-mariners-tom-lampkin/1412934.

18 Kirby Arnold, “Lampkin Delivers in Clutch,” Everett (Washington) Daily Herald, September 9, 1999: 19.

19 Corey Brock, “M’s beat Angels, Then Learn Lampkin Is Lost for the Season,” Tacoma News Tribune, June 28, 2000: 21.

20 Bob Finnigan, “M’s Catch Up to Lampkin – Former Teammate, Now with Padres, ‘Shocked’ by Trade,” Seattle Times, March 4, 2002: D4.

21 Lampkin interview.

22 Lampkin, “Tom Lampkin’s Career and the Return to his Home Town.”

23 Lampkin, “Tom Lampkin’s Career and the Return to his Home Town.”

24 Lampkin, “Tom Lampkin’s Career and the Return to his Home Town.”

25 Lampkin, “Tom Lampkin’s Career and the Return to his Home Town.”

26 Lampkin interview.