RIP Bob Watson
bighurt2000
Posts: 1,022 ✭✭✭
Just read this at msn
Bob Watson, a two-time All-Star as a player who later became the first black general manager to win a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1996, has died. He was 74.
The Houston Astros, for whom Watson played his first 14 major league seasons, announced the death Thursday night. The team didn't provide details, but Watson's son Keith wrote on Twitter that he died in Houston after a long battle with kidney disease.
“This is a very sad day for the Astros and for all of baseball,” the team said in a statement. “Bob Watson enjoyed a unique and remarkable career in Major League Baseball that spanned six decades, reaching success at many different levels, including as a player, coach, general manager and MLB executive."
Watson, who was nicknamed “The Bull,” made the All-Star team in 1973 and ’75, hit over .300 four times and drove in at least 100 runs twice while hitting in the middle of the Astros' lineup. He also holds the distinction of scoring the 1 millionth run in major league history, accomplishing the feat on May 4, 1975, against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park.
Watson also became a big hit off the field for his cameo, along with several Astros teammates, in the 1977 comedy film “The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training.” In a key scene, Watson delivered the memorable line: “Hey, c’mon, let the kids play!”
He also played for Boston (1979), the Yankees (1980–82) and Atlanta Braves (1982–84), finishing with a .295 career batting average with 184 home runs, 989 RBIs and 1,826 runs scored while primarily playing first base and left field. Watson also hit .371 in 17 career postseason games. He was the first player to hit for the cycle in both leagues, accomplishing the feat for Houston in 1977 and Boston two years later.
After retiring from playing, Watson began coaching and helped the 1988 Oakland Athletics win the American League pennant as the hitting coach for the likes of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire.
He became the second black general manager in major league history — after Atlanta's Bill Lucas (1976-79) — when he was hired by the Astros in 1993.
Watson became the Yankees' GM in 1995, and made the then-highly criticized decision to hire Joe Torre as New York's manager. Watson, along with Torre leading the team on the field, helped put together the World Series-winning squad in 1996.
He retired from the Yankees after the 1997 season, and Brian Cashman replaced him as New York's GM. Watson later served as Major League Baseball’s vice president in charge of discipline and vice president of rules and on-field operations and worked in the league offices until 2010.
“He was an All-Star on the field and a true pioneer off of it, admired and respected by everyone he played with or worked alongside,” the Astros' statement said. “Bob will be missed, but not forgotten.”
The team honored Watson in March by dedicating the Bob Watson Education Center at the Astros Youth Academy in Houston with the former All-Star in attendance.
Watson overcame prostate cancer after being diagnosed in 1994, and became an advocate for awareness and early detection. He often spoke at conferences and seminars about his experience, which he also discussed in his book “Survive To Win,” that was published in 1997. He dealt with other health problems in recent years, including kidney failure.
“I know that my dad has accomplished more than even he ever thought he would accomplish in life,” Keith Watson told Houston TV station Fox 26. “The legacy that he has left behind for us is one of giving, one of sharing, one of winning, and he doesn't leave here not having done everything that he set out to accomplish in his life.”
Watson is also survived by his wife Carol and daughter Kelley.
Comments
Let them play. RIP
.
.
.
How could you guys not include the famous Let Them Play! scene that Bob got to cameo in?
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
R.I.P.
Bob Watson was the Yankees GM that ushered in a new age of winning for the Yankees in 1996 after taking MAJOR FLAK for hiring Joe Torre to manage the club. Bob left after the 1997 season. It's seems almost unbelievable that the GM that succeeded him is still the Yankees GM to this day.
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
RIP
My co-favorite player (along with Chris Chambliss) on the Braves in the Torre era.
Field of Dreams... RIP
COLLECTING: 2020 Topps 206 ⚾️
facebook.com/groups/Topps206
Expect his rookie card to move up big time....with his resume, he will one day be in the hall...RIP Bob
My girlfriend met Bob Watson when he was working for MLB at a bar near her job which also is near MLB offices. He came in saw her Yankee hat and asked if she needed tickets for the Boston game. She said yes how much ? He said meet me here tomorrow afternoon and you can buy me a burger. She was skeptical not knowing who he was, but he seemed super friendly so she met him the next day and gave her an envelope with 4 tix his business card and a note that said "Shelley your right, Boston Sucks" Bob Watson. Call my secretary any time if you need tickets to a game and we will do our best to get you there. They became pretty good friends and I actually been to 3 games with him. RIP,Bob you were a good man.