I remember when Houston Astros outfield Bob Watson scored what was then believed to be baseball's one millionth run. The unique event occurred on Sunday, May 4, 1975. There were contests for fans to guess the exact date and time and player. Baseball promoted the heck out of it, as the build-up was one of the biggest promotions in the history of the game.
Needless to say, I didn't win. And although I do recall the event there are elements to the story I didn't know until now. Here are some highlights:
* The very first run in the history of baseball was scored by Philadelphias' Wes Fisher . It took exactly 99 years and 12 days for run No. 1,000,000 to score.
* Legends Joe DiMaggio, Ernie Banks and Stan Musial helped baseball promote baseballs' one millionth run. Countdowns were held in every big league park, as all fans knew how close the one millionth run was to scoring.
* Houston was playing the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. It was luck or fate that Saturday's ballgame was rained out ( rare for San Francisco). So they played a doubleheader the next day, and the first game started early.
Watson got on base via walk from Giants' pitcher John Montefusco. He moved to second on a ground out. Six minutes earlier, run No. 999,999 was scored by Claudell Washignton of the Oakland A's. Watson was on second base when light-hitting catcher Milt May, who only hit a total of 15 home runs for his entire career, hit a home run.
The bullpens at Candlestick Park were down the foul lines. After May blasted his homer, the Houston bullpen began yelling to Watson, "Run! Run! Run!".He started sprinting to home plate, an odd sight.
Little did Watson know that, approximately two seconds earlier, Reds shortstop Dave Conception had smashed a home run at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati and was racing around the bases.Conception crossed the plate, arms raised, thinking he had just made history. He soon found out that Watson had beat him by a mere four feet to immortality.
* Both Rod Carew and Chris Chambliss had chances to score run one million earlier. Both had been thrown out out home plate by outfielders, denying their place in history.
* Watson won a Seiko watch worth $1,000, a million pennies ( which he donated to charity), and a million Tootsie Rolls, one of the sponsors of the event. Watson donated the candy to the Boy and Girl Scouts.
* Watson went on to hit .324 that season, appearing in his second all-star game.
* It was later calculated that there was a mistake and Watson really didn't score the one millionth run in baseball history. It was never revealed who really did score the famous run, so, for all intents and purposes, Watson still is viewed as scoring the one millionth run.
* Baseball estimates that run No. 2,000,000 will be scored in 2020. That will be 45 years between million runs. 54 years quicker than the first million. Expect massive contests and promotions again in 3 years.
Source: New York Daily News.
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