Charles Franklin Watkins (September 28, 1872 – March 4, 1936) was an American physician, surgeon and physiotherapist. He played college baseball for the University of Michigan and later served as the coach of the Michigan Wolverines baseball team for three years. He moved to Billings, Montana in 1905 where he maintained a medical practice for approximately 30 years. Early years Watkins was born in Mount Cory, Ohio in 1872 to Issac and Esther Watkins (née Corwin), and the youngest of eight children. Watkins moved with his family to Reed City, Michigan in 1878. Issac was a postmaster at Ashton, Michigan and was active in Democratic politics until his death in 1894. Watkins attended the public schools in Reed City and graduated from Reed City High School. Watkins first played organized baseball with the Derbies, a Reed City team sponsored by a cigar maker, and later played semi-pro baseball while working at a drugstore in Traverse City, Michigan. University of Michigan Watkins enrolled at the University of Michigan intending to become a pharmacist. He received a degree in chemistry in 1898 and remained at Michigan as a medical student, graduating from its Department of Medicine and Surgery in 1901. While he was a student at Michigan, Watkins played for the Michigan Wolverines baseball team as a pitcher. He was known as "Watty" during his college baseball career and was reportedly "one of the first lefthanders to develop both a curved and a slow ball and once pitched a no-hit, no-run game." He was reported to have had "uncanny control" as a pitcher and was also a solid hitter, maintaining a batting average of .300 in the deadball era. Due to his desire to enter the medical profession, Watkins turned down many offers to play Major League Baseball, including an offer from the Cleveland Indians. Watkins continued to be associated with the Michigan baseball team as the head coach in 1897, 1898, and 1900. Watkins wrote that his "most satisfying moment in sports" took place on May 29, 1897, when the team defeated the University of Chicago at the Detroit Athletic Club. Medical career Watkins spent two years working at a railroad hospital in Brainerd, Minnesota, specializing in surgery. He became the first assistant surgeon at the Northern Pacific Railway Hospital in Missoula, Montana in 1903. While working at the Northern Pacific Hospital in Missoula, Watkins sustained severe burns on his left