From the Isn't it Funny Files...

Was clicking on random article on Wikipedia when this popped up:

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Mother Watson

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Walter L. "Mother" Watson (January 27, 1865 - November 23, 1898) was a Major League Baseball pitcher during part of the 1887 season. He was a native of Middleport, Ohio.
Watson appeared in two games for the Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American Association, starting both of them and completing one. The first was on May 19 against the Philadelphia Athletics and the second was against the Brooklyn Grays on May 27. He gave up 28 baserunners (22 hits and 6 walks) in just 14 innings. He also gave up 18 runs, but only 9 of them were earned runs.
In his brief MLB career he was 0-1 with one strikeout and an ERA of 5.79.
Watson was shot[1] and died in his hometown of Middleport, Ohio at the age of 33.

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A microscopic speck in the history of Reds baseball, but this kind of stuff is fun to find. Makes you wonder what it would have been like if teams were followed as closely as now. What would people have said about Mother Watson? He obviously didn't have a great run at the game, but this seemingly unimportant part of Reds history is quite a curiosity to me.

Probably how we treated guys like Eddie Priest, Scott Klingenbeck, Jeff Austin, Chris Booker, Gino Minutelli, and countless others who tried and failed. We forget about them. I wonder why he was shot, though.

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Originally Posted by SeeinRed

Was clicking on random article on Wikipedia when this popped up:



A microscopic speck in the history of Reds baseball, but this kind of stuff is fun to find. Makes you wonder what it would have been like if teams were followed as closely as now. What would people have said about Mother Watson? He obviously didn't have a great run at the game, but this seemingly unimportant part of Reds history is quite a curiosity to me.

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If this forum had been around all you'd hear is "Relax, he's only 22!" :p: