Bob Watson: 'Life well lived, time well spent' - Houston Chronicle

Bob Watson, the trailblazing former Astros player and executive who died Thursday night at age 74, had only weeks to live in early March when he attended the dedication of the Bob Watson Education Center at the Astros Urban Youth Academy in Acres Homes.

On that day, Watson sat quietly as his wife of 51 years, Carol Watson, honored her husband with words that now stand as an eloquent eulogy.

“We had a partnership that was deeper than anything else I could have imagined,” Carol Watson said. “This building (perpetuates) a legacy of what money can’t buy: honor, dignity and integrity.

“I always wanted to be able to say ‘Job well done, Bob Watson. Life well lived, and time well spent.’”

Carol Watson’s words that March morning were echoed Friday across baseball in honor of Watson, who as a player scored the millionth run in Major League Baseball history and as an executive became the first African-American general manger to preside over a World Series championship team in the 1996 New York Yankees.

“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 said in a statement.

What they are saying:

Astros owner Jim Crane: “When I first met Bob, I asked him what he’d like to do with the Astros. His reply was simply that he wanted to give back. Bob will be missed, but his legacy will live on, at our Astros Youth Academy, and beyond.”

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred: “I will always remember the outstanding example that Bob set for others, his years of model service to the Baseball Assistance Team and the courage with which he met his health challenges in recent years.”

Astros manager Dusty Baker: “He was one of the guys that was so kind to me when I first came up to the big leagues with the Braves. One time, after a game, he picked me up and talked to me about how to drive in runs. Even though we were friends, when I managed, he probably fined me as heavily as anyone. I nicknamed him Judge Dredd in jest. I think he kind of liked that name.”

Former Astros teammate Enos Cabell: “When I got to Houston, Bob was one of my leaders and was one of the most intelligent guys in the league. He was a calming influence for me and some of the other young players and really kept us out of trouble.”

Former Astros teammate and Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan: “Bob was a special man. He leaves an impact on all the people he spent time with.”

Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan: “Bob was a tremendous competitor who would always give you a battle when you faced him. He gave his life to the game of baseball as a player, front office executive and ambassador for baseball. He was a incredible human being and a great family man.”

Former Astros teammate Larry Dierker: “Bob Watson got his nickname, ‘The Bull’, because of his enormous physical strength. That helped him accomplish many things as a player. But you also have to be strong mentally and emotionally to overcome the challenges you face after your playing career is over. This strength, along with a proud, but yet humble personality, took him to the top of baseballs’ hierarchy. ”

Former Astros president and current executive advisor Reid Ryan: “Over the years, Bob would take me to lunch and share his wisdom. He was always quick to text a word of encouragement, pass on knowledge or teach from experience. ”

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Watson was “a highly accomplished figure in our National Pastime and a deeply respected colleague for those of us at Major League Baseball. … I will always remember the outstanding example that Bob set for others.”

Watson, who overcame prostate cancer in the mid-1990s, had been afflicted in recent years with kidney failure, rheumatoid arthritis and other health issues. He entered hospice care on May 8, and his wife and children, Keith and Kelley Watson, were by his side when he died.

Keith Watson said his father made the decision last week to end dialysis treatment and began a slow decline in his final days. During that time, though, he said, “There wasn’t a subject we didn’t cover that we wanted to cover about his journey.

“I don’t have a tremendous sense of pain regarding the loss. It’s more the loss of his leadership and his wisdom, his insight and his loving capacity that I’m missing. That is what I will miss the most.”

Watson played 14 of 19 major league seasons in Houston, where his children were born and where his name will endure as one who respected his profession and cherished the opportunity to share his blessings with others.

“My family has sacrificed a lot for baseball,” he said in March. “My wife would get on my case and say, ‘You give more to them than to us,’ and I would say that for years, us has been them.

“I always wanted to put the uniform on and take it off with pride. I always wanted to pass on what I understood about baseball, and this building will be a part of that.”

Born April 10, 1946, in Los Angeles, Watson was raised by his grandparents and played on a city championship high school team that included future big leaguers Willie Crawford and Bobby Tolan.

He was signed in 1965 as an undrafted free agent by the Astros and was recently ranked by Baseball America magazine as the 11th-best unsigned free agent of all time.

Watson played in Houston from 1966 through 1979, when he was traded at midseason to the Red Sox, followed by two-plus years with the Yankees and 2½ seasons with the Braves, retiring after the 1984 season.

A National League All-Star with the Astros in 1973, when he hit .312 with an .852 OPS, and 1975, when he had 18 homers and 85 RBIs in the cavernous Astrodome, Watson had a career batting average of .295 with an .811 OPS, 184 home runs and 989 RBIs.

He also scored 802 runs, including what was credited as MLB’s millionth run on May 4, 1975. He was awarded a platinum Seiko watch and a million Tootsie Rolls, which he donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Known as “Bull” for his 6-foot, 201-pound frame, he had 102 RBIs in 1976 and 110 in 1977 despite the dimensions of the pitcher-friendly Astrodome,

“I had an excellent time playing in the Astrodome,” he said years later. “The Astrodome made me the hitter that I was.”

Watson’s upbringing in Los Angeles, however, left him ill-prepared for the racial prejudice that he faced in his minor league career, which included stints in North Carolina, Georgia and other southern outposts.

“I felt terribly that he and others had to deal with those conditions, but he surmounted them and went on to great success,” said longtime Astros executive Tal Smith. “I had a lot of conversations with Bob and Carol during those times, and all one can do in those cases is to offer support and hope to lend some guidance.

“His early years were difficult because of the adversity of a shoulder injury, which required him switching from catcher to first base and the outfield, but he overcame them.”

Watson was a contemporary of Joe Morgan, Jim Wynn, Cesar Cedeno, John Mayberry and Cesar Geronimo on Astros teams in the early 1970s that had remarkable talent but were undone by ill-advised trades and questionable management decisions.

His only playoff appearances came in 1980 and 1981 with the Yankees, an d he had two home runs and seven RBIs in New York’s 1981 World Series loss to the Dodgers.

He also became the first player to hit for the cycle in both leagues, accomplishing that feat in 1977 with the Astros and 1979 with the Red Sox.

After retiring as a player, Watson worked for the A’s as a hitting instructor and coach from 1985 through 1988 before being hired in late 1988 by Astros owner John McMullen as an assistant to general manager Ed Wade.

He was elevated to general manager by Drayton McLane in 1993 and spent two years with the Astros before joining the Yankees after the 1995 season. Owner George Steinbrenner hired Joe Torre, Watson’s former manager in Atlanta, as manager in 1996, and the Yankees won their first World Series title since 1978.

“We were attached at the hip in 1996, and I was proud that we each won our first World Series together,” Torre said in a statement released by the Astros. “Bull was a selfless individual who led a great life in baseball and will be forever missed. “

Watson left the Yankees after the 1997 season and worked as MLB’s vice president in charge of discipline, rules and on-field operations through 2010. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in business in 1999 from Empire State College in New York and worked in player selection for USA Baseball, helping to assemble the 2000 Olympic gold medal-winning team and the 2008 bronze medalists.

He also served on the board of directors of the Baseball Assistance Team, which has provided more than 3,600 grants totaling $35 million to former players and team employees in need of financial aid.

“It’s important to me,” he said in 2017, when he received BAT’s lifetime achievement award. “I thank 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.”

The Astros this year announced that Watson would be inducted this summer into the team’s Hall of Fame and affixed his name to the two-story Bob Watson Education Center at the Astros Youth Academy, which will

house tutoring and lifestyle programs for 10,000 young people age 7 through 17 who use the baseball and softball complex each year.

“This is very important because a lot of times kids don’t have any place to go, don’t have any place to look to,” Watson said in March. “We’re going to have a number of different kinds of classes here. That word ‘education’ out there means just that.”

Among casual fans of the game, Watson may be best known for his cameo role in the film “Bad News Bears: Breaking Training,” in which he delivered the line, “Hey, c’mon, let the kids play!”

Keith Watson’s favorite Bob Watson story, however, involves the delivery of a million Tootsie Rolls to the family home, packed inside a 55-gallon drum with two scoops that he and his sister used to ladle out candy to their heart’s delight.

“After a week or two of my sister bouncing off the wall, he decided the best thing to do was to donate them to the Boys and Girls Clubs,” Keith Watson said. “But we probably went through 10,000 Tootsie Rolls.”

As Watson’s health declined, both children offered to serve as donors for a kidney transplant, but Watson declined the offers.

“His concern for me and my sister was not wanting to impede either of our quality of life to give him more time when he felt he had so many other issues that a transplant would not address,” Keith Watson said.

“Being the man that he was, he was not willing to put his children in any kind of risk, even though we were more than willing. He was the Bull. He made his decision, and there was nothing we could do to change his mind.”

Keith Watson said the family was grateful that Watson had once last chance to meet with friends at the education center dedication in March, which occurred only a week before the coronavirus shutdown.

“It was incredibly important to him and to us as a family,” Keith Watson said. “The timing was impeccable, to allow people to speak directly to him and shake his hand and thank him. It meant the world.”

Plans for a future memorial service are pending. The family has designated the Boys and Girls Clubs of America for memorial contributions.

david.barron@chron.com

twitter.com/dfbarron

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