Tom Brookens played in the Valley Baseball League with the Waynesboro Generals and Shenandoah Indians before going on to play in the Major Leagues for 12 seasons, spending time with the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, and Cleveland Indians.
During the 1974 VBL season, Brookens finished second in the league batting race with a .382 average while playing for the Shenandoah Indians.
Brookens spent most of his Big-League career with the Detroit Tigers (1979-1988). Brookens won a World Series ring with Detroit in 1984 along with another VBL Hall of Famer Johnny Grubb. He then played one season each with the Yankees and Indians.
Brookens hit .246 in his 12-year career with 71 homers and 431 RBIs in 1,336 games.
Brookens began his coaching career and was manager of the Class A New York-Penn League Oneonta Tigers in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 he managed the West Michigan White Caps to the championship in the Class A Midwest League. Brookens managed the AA Erie Seawolves in 2008 before returning to the Big Leagues in 2009 as the Tigers’ first base coach. He was a member of the Tigers staff from 2009-2013.
Brookens was the bench coach for Team USA in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.