ROCHESTER, MN – The Rochester Honkers are pleased to announce Field Manager Thomas Walker has been hired as an assistant coach at San Jose State University for the 2020 college baseball season. His duties with the San Jose State baseball program will not allow him to return to the Honkers dugout for a 3rd season.
“We are excited for Thomas as he continues his coaching career as an assistant at San Jose State”, explained Honkers General Manager Jay Fanta. “This is a great opportunity for Thomas and his performance as the Honkers Field Manager over the past two season helped put him in a position to receive this opportunity. We appreciate the contributions Thomas made to the Honkers organization and the Rochester community over the past 3 summers. He will be missed.”
Walker who started in 2017 as a Honkers assistant coach managed the Honkers to a 72-72 record over the past two seasons including a 38-34 record in 2019. The 2017 Honkers lead the entire Northwoods League in home runs with 76.
“I’d like to thank the entire Honkers organization for the tremendous opportunity I was given. To the Honkers fans, thank you for the support over the past three summers. Most importantly, I want to thank all the players who chose to come play in the Northwoods League and in Rochester during that time. The experience being the manager of the Rochester Honkers prepared me for this next step in my career and I am extremely grateful for everyone who was a part of it” Explained Walker.
The Honkers plan to formally announce a new Field Manager that will lead the team in 2020 next week.
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 25-year old summer
collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a
friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff,
over 200 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner
Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris
Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods
League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on
the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
