Harrison “Mickey” Thomas hasn’t played for the Brentwood Flashes since 1954, but he recently got a new team shirt.

The 88-year-old D.C. resident, who grew up in North Brentwood, received a recreation of his old shirt from the midcentury Route 1 sandlot team from his son for Christmas.

Thomas got his start playing baseball for teams in Bladensburg and the Lakeland area of College Park, occasionally playing exhibition games against the more established Brentwood team, whose players were a decade older than him.

“One day a regular player for the Flashes couldn’t play for some reason and the other members of the team knocked on his door with a uniform and asked if he was available,” said his son, Sidney Thomas.

He played shortstop, second base and third base for the team from 1951 to 1954, while still playing for other teams as well.

Thomas said the team practiced at a field in North Brentwood on Wallace Road that has since been turned into housing. Their rivals were the Laurel All-Stars and Glenarden Braves, and games against Baltimore teams at Westport stadium were always a big deal.

But for Thomas, the biggest game came at Johnson’s Park in Emory Field in Gaithersburg, where he vividly recalls hitting a home run.

Thomas’ baseball career ended when he enlisted in the Army in 1954. He served for three years, then earned a teaching degree at the college now known as Bowie State University.

He taught history at Potomac High School and then worked as a guidance counselor at Bladensburg High School until his retirement.