Bob Watson, an All-Star slugger who became the first black general manager to win a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1996, has died.
The Houston Astros, for whom Watson played his first 14 seasons in a baseball career spanning six decades, announced his death Thursday night.
Watson, 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.
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.
The Astros 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.
