Opening Day "Big" Sam Coffee Hour @ Elmwood

Your new favorite Opening Day tradition returns for 2026! Celebrate one of Detroit's greatest-ever baseball players and send up a prayer for another exciting season of Detroit baseball as we gather at "Big" Sam Thompson's gravesite for coffee and donuts on Opening Day, Friday, April 3, at 9:30 a.m.

"Big" Sam Thompson (1860-1922), one of the most fearsome sluggers of all time, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Born in Danville, Ind., Big Sam — he stood 6'2" — and a roster of other power players won the World Series for the Detroit Wolverines in 1887. When the team disbanded the following year, Sam went to Philadelphia, where he played until his retirement in 1898. He made a brief reappearance with the Detroit Tigers in 1906.

Sam led the National League in nearly every hitting category. He was the first Major League player to amass 200+ hits and 300+ bases in one season. His career RBI to games played ratio remains the highest in baseball history at .923. And Thompson still holds the Major League record for most RBIs in a single month, driving in 61 runs in August 1894 while playing for the Phillies.

Sam was proud to call Detroit home. On Opening Day at Bennett Park, it was tradition for legendary Wolverines catcher (and ballpark namesake) Charlie Bennett to throw out the opening pitch – to Big Sam. Sam's wife Ida was a lifelong baseball lover and continued to attend Opening Day annually until her death in 1947.

This casual gathering will last for about an hour, or until we run out of coffee. We'll have some "Big" Sam souvenirs for you to take home with you, too, while supplies last.

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Host or Publisher Elmwood Cemetery