Watson honored for charity assistance
Award amplifies former Astro’s wide-ranging life in baseball
Bob Watson has ample trophies, honors and mementos from a half-century in baseball, but the former Astros player and general manager said Tuesday his involvement with the Baseball Assistance Team charity ranks near the top of the list.
Watson, 71, an Astros player from 1966-78 and their general manager in 1994-95, received a lifetime achievement award from BAT prior to Tuesday’s Tigers-Astros game, presented by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
On hand to honor Watson were several former Astros teammates, including Jose Cruz, Larry Dierker, Jim Wynn, Phil Garner, J.R. Richard and Enos Cabell, along with MLB executive Joe Torre, whom Watson hired as manager of the Yankees when he was general manager in New York.
“This turnout is fantastic,” Watson said. “A lot of these people helped me to get where I am today, and hopefully I helped them.”
Torre demonstrated that he fell into that category, fishing into his pocket and pulling out his 1996 World Series ring, the first of four he won in New York, and crediting Watson with his support through a rocky first year with the Yankees.
BAT, which presented the award to Watson, has awarded more than 3,600 grants totaling $35 million to former players and team employees in need of assistance.
Of his involvement with BAT, Watson said, “You have to give something back. (BAT) does a whole lot for people that you folks don’t know anything about. We have about 70 cases in a month now where we help people having tough times.”
Of all his achievements on the field, including scoring baseball’s millionth run and hitting for the cycle in both leagues, Watson said he remains especially proud of being the first African-American general manager in MLB.
“It’s important to me,” he said. “I thank (owners) John McMullen and Drayton McLane for giving me a chance to run their corporation. I hope I left it in better shape. I wanted to do a good job so I could open the door for somebody else.”
Watson acknowledged that he continues to have health issues, including kidney failure that requires him to undergo dialysis three days a week for five hours at a session. He said he also has back issues “because AstroTurf did a number on us (with its hard playing surface).
“But if I had it to do over again, I would,” he said. “I had an excellent time playing in the Astrodome. The Astrodome made me the hitter that I was.”