Bob Watson - MLB Career

MLB Career

Nicknamed "Bull," Watson was originally a catcher in the minor leagues, however, he converted to first base and the outfield by the time he made his major league debut with the Astros on September 9, 1966. Watson was a dependable hitter whose home run numbers were somewhat hurt by the fact that he played the majority of his career in the Astrodome.

Watson was credited with scoring the 1,000,000th run in major league history on May 4, 1975 at 12:32 in the afternoon. Watson scored from second base on a three-run homer by teammate Milt May at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. It was known that the 999,999th run had already scored, with sponsored updates being provided by and to every ballpark. Despite the lack of in-game urgency, Watson ran at full speed, reaching home plate approximately four seconds before Dave Concepción, who had just homered in Cincinnati and was also racing around the basepaths. "I never ran so fast in my entire life," said Concepcion. But it was Watson who won $10,000 and one million Tootsie Rolls provided by the event's sponsor. The 1,000,000th run total only included runs scored in the National and American Leagues (not "3rd" major leagues, such as the Federal League). Watson joked that in the aftermath of the event, his fan mail doubled—from 4 letters to 8. Later, more accurate recalculations of baseball's record-keeping showed that neither Watson nor Concepcion scored baseball's actual millionth run, and it is not known who did.

On June 13, 1979, Watson was traded to the Red Sox. His first season in Boston, he hit for the cycle on September 15. Having already hit for the cycle with the Astros in 1977, he became the first player to accomplish this feat in both the National League and American League.

Following the season, he signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees. With the Yankees, he reached the post-season for the first time in his career, losing to the Kansas City Royals in the 1980 American League Championship Series. A year later, Watson reached the World Series for the only time in his career. Despite Watson's hitting two home runs and batting .319 with seven runs batted in, the Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

On April 23, 1982, Watson was traded to the Atlanta Braves for a prospect named Scott Patterson who later became an actor best known for Gilmore Girls. Watson helped propel the Braves to the 1982 National League West title. In 1983, he hit .309 mostly as a pinch hitter. He retired after the 1984 season. After retirement, Watson moved into coaching and was the hitting coach on the Oakland A's 1988 pennant winning team.