Bob Watson, baseball's first Afro-American GM, breathes his last at 74

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. He was 74.

Watson, nicknamed “The Bull,” made the All-Star team in 1973 and ’75, also played for Boston (1979), the Yankees (1980–82) and Atlanta Braves (1982–84), finishing with a .295 career batting average with 184 home runs, 989 RBIs and 1,826 runs scored while primarily playing first base and left field.

Watson became the second black general manager in major league history - after Atlanta's Bill Lucas (1976-79) - when he was hired by the Astros in 1993. Watson was hired as the Yankees' GM in 1995, and made the then-highly criticized decision to hire Joe Torre as New York's manager. Watson, along with Torre leading the team on the field, helped put together the World Series-winning squad in 1996.

(Image credit: Representative Image)