Michael Tonkin
American professional baseball player
Michael Harvey Tonkin (born November 19, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and New York Yankees, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He made his MLB debut in 2013 with the Twins.
Career
Minnesota Twins
Tonkin was born in Glendale, California and attended Palmdale High School in Palmdale, California. The Minnesota Twins selected Tonkin in the 30th round, 906th overall, of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft. He made his professional debut with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Twins, and recorded a 3.27 earned run average (ERA) in 6 games. He returned to the team the following year, posting a 3–4 record and 3.62 ERA in 11 appearances. In 2010, Tonkin split the year between the rookie-level Elizabethton Twins and the Class-A Beloit Snappers, pitching to a 4–6 record and 3.40 ERA in 23 appearances between the two teams. He returned to Beloit in 2011, and pitched to a 4–3 record and 3.87 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 76+2⁄3 innings of work. In 2012, Tonkin split the season between Beloit and the High-A Fort Myers Miracle, logging a cumulative 4–1 record and 2.08 ERA in 44 appearances.
The public source identifies “Michael Tonkin” as american professional baseball player. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Michael, Tonkin and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Michael Tonkin”, the useful work is to connect “american professional baseball player” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q13937650. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1989, 2013, 2008 and 2010.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Michael Tonkin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Michael Tonkin primary sources, Michael Tonkin archive and Michael research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Michael Tonkin”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Michael Tonkin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.