William Henry "Wattie" Watkins (May 5, 1858 – June 9, 1937) was a Canadian baseball player and manager. In 1887, he led the Detroit Wolverines to the first professional sports championship for Detroit, Michigan. The Wolverines won the 1887 National League championship and went on to defeat the St. Louis Browns in a 15-game World Series.
Watkins was born in Brantford, Ontario in 1858. In 1881, at age 23, he was the manager of the St. Thomas Athlet...
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William Henry "Wattie" Watkins (May 5, 1858 – June 9, 1937) was a Canadian baseball player and manager. In 1887, he led the Detroit Wolverines to the first professional sports championship for Detroit, Michigan. The Wolverines won the 1887 National League championship and went on to defeat the St. Louis Browns in a 15-game World Series.
Watkins was born in Brantford, Ontario in 1858. In 1881, at age 23, he was the manager of the St. Thomas Athletics from St. Thomas, Ontario. He led the Athletics to the Ontario provincial baseball championship in 1881. In 1882, he took over as the manager of the Port Huron, Michigan team in the Michigan State League and led the team to championships in both 1882 and 1883. In 1884, Watkins managed the Bay City, Michigan team. In 1884 and 1885, he was a player-manager for the Indianapolis Hoosiers. Watkins was a third baseman in his days as a player. While playing for Indianapolis, Watkins was hit on the head by a pitch from Gus Shalix on August 26, 1884...
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