Bob Watson

Robert José Watson (April 10, 1946 – May 14, 2020) was an American professional baseball player, coach and general manager who played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder from 1966 to 1984. He spent the bulk of his career with the Houston Astros, where he was a two-time All-Star, and also played for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves. Watson compiled a .295 batting average across his playing career.

After retiring as a player, Watson served as a coach for the Oakland Athletics for four years before joining the Astros' front office. In 1993 he became the second African-American general manager in major league history with the Astros. He then served as general manager of the Yankees from October 23, 1995 until February 2, 1998, a tenure during which the team won the 1996 World Series, making Watson the first African-American general manager to operate a World Series-winning team. He later worked for Major League Baseball as vice president in charge of discipline and vice president of rules and on-field operations from 2002 to 2010. In 2020, Watson was inducted into the Houston Astros Hall of Fame.