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Tommy Watkins (1980)

Infielder Thomas Gray Watkins appeared in nine games for the Twins in 2007. Born and raised in Fort Myers, he was drafted by Minnesota in the 38th round in 1998 and spent his entire career in the Twins’ organization. You could say that he rose through the ranks rather slowly: he was in rookie ball for three years, in Class A for three more years, in AA for two-plus years, and in AAA for three-plus years. He was never a hitter, either for average or for power. In three years of rookie ball he hit .240 with an OPS of .647; in three years at Class A he hit .244 with an OPS of .628; in AA his average was .246 and his OPS .671; and in AAA it was an average of .255 and an OPS of .689. His main asset appears to have been the ability to play a variety of positions, as he logged time at shortstop, second base, third base, outfield, and even caught once and made three appearances as a pitcher. Watkins’ best year was probably 2007, when he hit .272 with an OPS of .753 at AAA Rochester. That was also the year he spent his only time in the majors, about two weeks in the month of August. He made the most of it, going 10-for-28 for a line of .357/.438/.357. He was always a very popular player in the minors; Rochester held a “Tommy Watkins Day” in 2009 when it became apparent that his playing career was coming to a close. He started his coaching career at mid-season of 2010, working for the GCL Twins and the Ft. Myers Miracle. He became the batting coach at Beloit in 2011 and followed the team to Cedar Rapids. Tommy Watkins is currently the batting coach for the Cedar Rapids Kernels.