Thompson reportedly got his life together in prison. He joined Alcoholics Anonymous, found religion, became a trustee, coached the prison baseball team, and began counseling first-time offenders. His fall from World Series hero to 31-year-old has-been in two short years is graphically documented in “How I Wrecked My Life – How I Hope to Save It,” which was published in Sport Magazine in 1965 while he was still in jail.
Apparently Hank said all the right things, because he was paroled in 1966 after serving four years. He moved to Fresno, California, where his mother lived, got a job as a playground director, and began working with troubled teens. Plans for a movie about his life, starring Sidney Poitier, were reported in early 1969. During the summer Thompson appeared at a Giants old-timer’s game and told friends he’d quit his job in Fresno and would be working for the team. But he died suddenly of a heart attack at his mother’s home in Fresno on September 30, 1969.
Like his baseball career, Thompson’s life ended prematurely. He had always lived fast – arrested at 11, drinking at 15, playing professional baseball at 17, becoming a war hero and an alcoholic at 19, making his major-league debut at 21, and setting World Series records at 28. But he was already past his prime at the age of 29, out of the major leagues at 30, and through with baseball at 31. When he died, he was only 43 years old.
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