Bobby Wilkins

Summary

Robert Linwood Wilkins (August 11, 1922 – January 3, 2010) was a shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1944 through 1945 for the Philadelphia Athletics. Listed at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), 165 lb., Wilkins batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Denton, North Carolina.

Bobby Wilkins
Shortstop
Born: (1922-08-11)August 11, 1922
Denton, North Carolina
Died: January 3, 2010(2010-01-03) (aged 87)
Shreveport, Louisiana
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 18, 1944, for the Philadelphia Athletics
Last MLB appearance
September 6, 1945, for the Philadelphia Athletics
MLB statistics
Batting average.257
Home runs0
Runs batted in7
Teams

Wilkins attended Catawba College, where he played in the baseball squad along with Vern Benson and Ray Poole. He entered the majors in 1944 with the Athletics, playing for them in part of two seasons as the primarily backup to incumbent shortstop Ed Busch.

In a two-season career, Wilkins was a .257 hitter (46-for-179) in 86 games, including 29 runs, six doubles, seven RBI, two stolen bases, and a .304 on-base percentage.

After that, Wilkins attended Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and graduated from FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

A resident of Shreveport, Louisiana for 60 years, Wilkins also played Minor League Baseball for eleven seasons, four of them with the Shreveport Sports of the Texas League, where he set league records of 159 most consecutive chances without committing an error (1949), and for the most double plays (71) started in a season (1951). He posted a .249 career average in 1017 games.

Wilkins died at the age of 87 following a lengthy illness, and is interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Shreveport.

Sources edit

  • Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
  • Shreveport Times Obituary

External links edit