Goefrey Tomlinson

Goefrey Maurice Tomlinson

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
• School University of Houston
• High School Everman High School

• Born August 19, 1976 in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Goefrey Tomlinson was born in Jamaica but went to high school in Texas. He was drafted twice, in the 64th round of the 1994 amateur draft out of high school by the New York Yankees, and three years later in the 4th round of the 1997 amateur draft, by the Kansas City Royals, as he attended the University of Houston.

A speedy player with high batting averages, he got off to a good start in the pros by hitting .338 in 58 games and stealing 29 bases in 20 attempts for the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League in 1997. In 1998, he played 106 games between the Lansing Lugnuts and Wilmington Blue Rocks, hitting .283/.372/.432. He had 8 triples and 23 steals. In 1999, he was with the Wichita Wranglers of the Texas League where he hit .280/.375/.386 in 128 games, scoring an even 100 runs and stealing 24 bases. However, he was caught stealing 19 times. Still he seemed destined to be the Royals' leadoff hitter in short order, and that year he was picked to play for the World Team in the inaugural Futures Game. However, his career hit a roadblock in 2000, as he played for the Omaha Golden Spikes of the AAA Pacific Coast League. He was hitting .286 in 29 games when his season ended because of a serious ankle injury, and he then missed the entire 2001 season as well.

The Royals gave up on him at that point and he did not resurface in professional baseball until 2004, when the Capitales de Québec of the independent Northern League East. That would be the start of a hugely productive association, as he played 8 seasons for Quebec as their starting centerfielder, during which the team won the Can-Am Association title four times. He had some great years, hitting .351 in 42 games his first season with the team, .322 in 2005 and .302 in 2009. That last year, he had 101 hits and 20 steals, while in 2005 he scored 67 runs - all in a season of 81 games. He retired after a fourth championship in 2011, when he had fallen to .242. In 2014, the Capitales brought him back for one game as a tribute to his great career with the team. He lived full-time in Quebec City and learned to speak flawless French while earning a living as an English teacher in the off-season.