Bill Watkins

Who was Bill Watkins?

William Henry Watkins, sometimes known as "Wattie," or "Watty," was a Canadian-born baseball player, manager, executive and team owner whose career in organized baseball spanned 47 years from 1876 to 1922.

He began playing organized baseball in Canada and Michigan and played one season of Major League Baseball as an infielder for the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1884. He was a manager of five major league clubs and several minor league clubs, including stints with the Indianapolis Hoosiers, Detroit Wolverines, Kansas City Cowboys, St. Louis Browns and Pittsburgh Pirates. He led the 1887 Detroit Wolverines to the first professional sports championship for Detroit with a National League pennant and a victory over the St. Louis Browns in the 1887 World Series. He was also the business manager of the 1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers team that won the Federal League pennant, the first and only major league baseball championship for Indianapolis.