Bob Watson

Born today, none other than Bob Watson who holds the special distinction of scoring the 1,000,000th run in major league history on May 4, 1975.*

On the day in question, there was a full slate of games scheduled and it was known that the 1,000,000th run was going to be scored that day. A sponsor offered $10,000 and one million Tootsie Rolls (The American Dental Association sponsored?) to the player who scored the historic run.

At 12:32 in the afternoon, Watson was on second base when teammate Milt May hit a home run at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Of course, normally there is no urgency for a runner to score on a home run but in this case Watson ran at full speed which was a good thing because he crossed home plate just four seconds before Dave Concepcion of the Reds who hit a home run in another game and like Watson was racing around the bases at full speed. (This is great!) Watson's dash to the plate was good enough for that run to be major league baseball's 1,000,000th run.

While I am sure it appeared ridiculous for a player to be running full speed for home on a home run, Watson was no fool. How would you like to lose $10,000 and 1,000,000 Tootsie Rolls to some wimpy suicide squeeze or somebody getting balked home in another game? Ummmm, sorry no.

I also hear that Watson had the best house in the neighborhood for the kids that Halloween. They appreciated that mad dash.

*Years later, a computer geek did some calculations and determined that Bob Watson did not in fact score the 1,000,000th run and it cannot be determined just who did. Well I guess I don't know if he was a "computer geek" but I do know that he was a "party pooper".