Hall of Fame – Tom Brookens

Plenty of Chambersburg athletes have become professionals in a variety of sports, but none have had a pro career as long or successful as Tom Brookens.

Brookens was a Major League baseball player for 12 years, which included winning a World Series title with the Detroit Tigers in 1984.

Tom Brookens

He is one of 11 athletes or coaches named to the inaugural class of the Chambersburg Athletics Hall of Fame. The first class will be inducted on Friday, Sept. 20 during halftime of the Trojans’ football game vs. State College.

Also on the list of first-year inductees are Marshay Ryan, Barry Carter, Bob Thomas, Dave Myers, Stephanie (Van Brakle) Prothro, Tim Cook, Marcia Brown, Ron Etter, Lowell “Doc” Schlichter and Mitch Stahl.

The first Chambersburg team to win a PIAA state championship, the 1977 girls cross country team will also be honored.

Brookens played baseball for the Trojans in 1969-71, and he was one of a group of very good players, including his twin brother Tim and cousin Ike Brookens. Unfortunately, back then, there were no high school playoffs or all-state teams.

The American Legion baseball program was strong at that time. Chambersburg was very successful in that, and Brookens was named to the Legion East-West All-Star game three times, in 1970-72. He said one of favorite memories was playing games in high school and Legion at Henninger Field.

Brookens went to college at Mansfield before the Tigers drafted him in 1975. He was called up to the majors in 1979 and played in Detroit through the 1988 season, which included the World Series season of 1984, with Brookens playing third base.

He closed out his career with one year as a New York Yankee and one as a Cleveland Indian.

In his career, Brookens batted .246, scored 477 runs, drove in 431 runs, belted 71 home runs and stole 86 bases. Perhaps his best season was in 1980, when he batted .275, and had 66 RBIs and 10 homers.

After the 1990 season, Brookens retired. But he returned to the Detroit organization in 2005 as a minor league manager for the Tigers for five seasons. He was named Midwest League’s Manager of the Year in 2007.

In 2010, he was named to the Tigers’ Major League staff and was the first base coach under Jim Leyland for three years and the third base coach for one. Detroit was the AL champion in 2012.

After retiring again, Brookens was asked to help Leyland run Team USA in the World Baseball Classic in 2017 and the team came through with a gold medal for the first time.

Brookens lives in the Fayetteville area with his wife Chris.

— By Ed Gotwals