ARCHITECT

Before his death, Watson gave

The headlines will say that Bob Watson, the GM of the 1996 World Series Champions, died. To those who knew him and to Watson himself, there are so many more ways to remember the man who was called “The Bull” during his 19-year playing career.

Watson, 74, died Thursday night after a battle with kidney disease.

His legacy in baseball was longer and greater than his two years at the helm of the Bombers. As his son Keith wrote in tribute to his father Thursday night, he had some rare accomplishments.

“He’s still the only executive with a gold medal ring (as chairman of USA Baseball’s selection committee for the 2000 Olympics) and a World Series ring (as general manager of the 1996 Yankees) and I think that more than anything else speaks to who he is and how he feels about his place in the pantheon of professional baseball,” Watson’s son wrote.

To his family, Watson is the loving, compassionate and humble father who declined the offer of a perhaps life-saving kidney so as not to take anything away from his children.

Watson’s legacy in baseball spans decades. After playing 19 seasons for four teams, he served as the general manager of the Astros and Yankees and then worked as Major League Baseball’s discipline czar. He was the second African-American GM in baseball when the Astros named him to the post in 1993 and the first to win a World Series when the Bombers won in 1996.

Watson’s brief time with the Yankees left a legacy. He was the GM that hired longtime manager Joe Torre, who would lead the Yankees to four World Series titles. Watson also made the deal to sign a catcher for that 1996 team,

Joe Girardi, who would end up winning the last Yankees World Series title as the skipper for the Bombers in 2009.

“Bob was a gentle giant,” said current Yankees GM Brian Cashman — who succeeded Watson — in a statement. “He was an incredibly kind person, and a mentor whom I looked up to and admired. He shared his wealth of experiences and deep knowledge of the game freely and with everyone he came in contact with, and I was one of those beneficiaries.”

Watson also left a legacy as a player, spending 14 seasons with the Astros and then splitting the next five between the Yankees, Braves and Red Sox.

A lifetime .295 hitter with two 100-RBI seasons and 989 career RBI, Watson was a two-time All Star who finished 11th in the MVP voting in 1976. The first baseman hit for the cycle in both league leagues. In the 1981 World Series for the Yankees he homered in his first at-bat. Watson is also credited with scoring the millionth run in MLB history on May 4, 1975 with