Richard David Wilkins (born June 4, 1967) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

. He played 11 seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) between 1991 and 2001 for the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros,

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

."Rick Wilkins Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 23, 2017.

Early life

Wilkins was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. While growing up, he graduated from

The Bolles School The Bolles School is an American private college preparatory day and boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida. It has a lower school (including pre-kindergarten), a middle school, and a high school, spread across four campuses around the Jackson ...

where he was a district champ in both baseball and football his senior year of high school in 1985. Received an athletic scholarship from Furman University.

Baseball career

Rick was selected in the 23rd round by the Chicago Cubs in the 1986 Major League Baseball Draft. Prior to his call to the big leagues Wilkins was rated the 70th best prospect by '' Baseball America'' and at the age of 24 he made his major league debut on June 6, 1991. By 1993 he was named the opening day catcher of the Chicago Cubs where he played in 136 games while posting a batting average .303 and clubbing 30 homeruns along with 73 RBIs making him the 4th member of the .300/30 club for catchers in

history. Since then 5 more members have made the elusive club. On October 3, 2001, Wilkins ended his professional playing career going 1 for 1 with 2 RBIs with the

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Rick Major League Baseball catchers Chicago Cubs players Houston Astros players Furman Paladins baseball players Seattle Mariners players San Francisco Giants players New York Mets players Los Angeles Dodgers players St. Louis Cardinals players San Diego Padres players Baseball players from Jacksonville, Florida 1967 births Living people Geneva Cubs players Peoria Chiefs players Winston-Salem Spirits players Charlotte Knights players Iowa Cubs players Jackson Generals (Texas League) players Tucson Toros players Tacoma Rainiers players Norfolk Tides players Albuquerque Dukes players Memphis Redbirds players Portland Beavers players Joliet JackHammers players Bolles School alumni FSC Jacksonville Blue Wave baseball players