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-Williamsport Sun-Gazette featured article on Tom Brookens-

Former Mansfield star Brookens loving life in Oneonta
Guy Cipriano Sun-Gazette Staff
    ONEONTA, N.Y. — He played infield for a team that won a World Series title and the first 16 years of his working life were spent as a professional baseball player.
    He also found himself sweating like a 23-year-old making his Major League debut when the Oneonta Tigers opened this season at Tri-City on June 21.
    This marked Tom Brookens’ first professional game since 1990.
    And the first-year Oneonta Tiger manager didn’t know what to expect.
    “I was very nervous,” he said. “I was ready for it, being in spring training and the extended spring. Extended spring is very long and drawn out, and you can’t wait to get the heck out of Florida and for your season to start. It’s a welcome thing when it comes, but I didn’t how things would turn out.”
    It didn’t take long for the nerves to calm. An eight-run second inning helped the Tigers defeat Tri-City, 17-4.
    Brookens was back in the professional baseball. He had his own team and 75 games ahead of him.
    Brookens, the only first-round draft pick in Mansfield University history, planned things this way. When his playing career ended, he returned to his native southcentral Pennsylvania.
    He raised three daughters, spent time with his wife, Chris, coached fast-pitch softball, even worked some construction near his Fayetteville home. During those 15 years, his daughters grew up, and with twins, Maggie and Molly, preparing for college, Brookens faced a dilemma.
    “I was thinking, ‘What the heck was I going to do with the rest of my life’” he said.
    He answered that question this past winter when he agreed to manage short-season Oneonta.
    The thought of returning to professional baseball entered Brookens’ mind after the Detroit Tigers hired friend and former infield mate, Alan Trammell, as their manager. Six days later, the organization hired Kirk Gibson, another teammate, as bench coach.
    Trammell and Gibson were hired in October 2002, and little did anybody know, the Tigers were bringing back another member of the 1984 World Championship team.
    “With Tram getting the job, and Gibby getting back into it, I think that got me fired up,” Brookens said. “I’m very grateful the Tigers gave me this opportunity because once you are out, sometimes it’s very tough to get back in. They thought I was the right man for the job and I think they are right.”
    That confidence has reached some of the Tigers’ youngest players.
    Oneonta entered Saturday’s game against the Williamsport Crosscutters with an 18-10 record.
    “It’s pretty much what I expected,” Brookens said, “but we’re winning a lot of games. I can’t say that I came expecting to win, but we are swinging the bats well and playing well.”
    Brookens’ influence has extended beyond wins and losses. He has brought a loose atmosphere to the New York-Penn League’s smallest market.
    His goal involves ensuring every player does at least one thing each day to become a better coach. Brookens works toward his goal without showing any frustration. Laughter and jokes are common. Team personnel aren’t afraid to approach Brookens, and when a ball nearly plunked a reliever during batting practice this past Friday, there were no stares or lectures. Brookens simply laughed like somebody witnessing his first practical joke.
    “He’s a great guy,” longtime Oneonta owner Sam Nader said. “He’s doing an excellent job. He’s a dedicated baseball man and we are very, very happy to have him. Alan Trammel said I was lucky to get him. I certainly agree with that.”
    Oneonta might be the perfect place for Brookens to begin a coaching career. Damaschke Field doesn’t feature any modern amenities, and the team’s front office works out of a room slightly bigger than a walk-in closet.
    To make baseball work here, egos are left somewhere else. Nader answers the phone and Brookens helps the ground’s crew pull tarp.
    Still, the city has a reputation for producing major-leaguers. Don Mattingly, Bernie Williams and John Elway once played here, and the city has been involved with the New York-Penn League for the past 40 years.
    “Oneonta is a small town and it’s a small-town atmosphere,” Brookens said. “The ballpark has been around forever. It’s not your modern, upscale, new minor-league complex. It’s your old-time stadium and maybe that suits me better getting back into it.”

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