A taciturn Midwesterner, he was effective for many years out of the Orioles' bullpen but still became a target for boos. The post includes my narration of a feature story I wrote about him.
Is that one of your baseball cards from the cigar box? I was cleaning house in preparation to move overseas. My son had a military style foot locker. I sold it during a yard sale. Unbeknownst to me, he had a bunch of baseball cards in there. 🥴
Bird Tapes subscriber David Maril sent me the following message and is allowing me to post it here for others to read:
Your Eddie Watt piece brought back a lot of memories to me. I was a freshman at Clark University in 1970 and came back to Baltimore to see the World Series games at the Memorial Stadium. My parents had gotten tickets, for me and an old high school friend to see the home games.
I remember when Watt came in from the bullpen and gave up the home run to Lee May, who ironically became an Oriole a few years later.
That pitch definitely changed Watt’s standing among the fans. In every game I went to in the following years, while Watt was on the team, fans would start booing as soon as he began throwing in the bullpen.
Personally, I had mixed feelings about the home run. While it would’ve been nice to have the Orioles sweep the series, the homer meant I could attend more World Series game in person at Memorial Stadium. When the Orioles swept the Dodgers in 1966, the only ticket I had was for a fifth game, which was never played.
The thing I always remember about Watt is he threw almost side-arm. It was kind of a cross between the regular overhand motion and submarine style. However, whenever he would get ahead of a hitter 0-2, he would reach back and throw an overhand, fastfall, with a bit of an exaggerated motion like Jim Palmer, and usually get either a swinging or called third strike.
Thanks for stirring all these terrific memories from Memorial Stadium, which will always be my favorite Orioles park. You couldn’t beat the price and location of upper deck seats in Section 1, behind the plate.
As a teenager growing up during the glory years, personally I have very good memories of the Watt , Reichert back end of the pen. Pete more for me being a lefty.
No, I do not have an Eddie Watt card -- borrowed it from a reader who is helping me on an as-needed basis. Sorry about your son's collection. Painful.
Is that one of your baseball cards from the cigar box? I was cleaning house in preparation to move overseas. My son had a military style foot locker. I sold it during a yard sale. Unbeknownst to me, he had a bunch of baseball cards in there. 🥴
Bird Tapes subscriber David Maril sent me the following message and is allowing me to post it here for others to read:
Your Eddie Watt piece brought back a lot of memories to me. I was a freshman at Clark University in 1970 and came back to Baltimore to see the World Series games at the Memorial Stadium. My parents had gotten tickets, for me and an old high school friend to see the home games.
I remember when Watt came in from the bullpen and gave up the home run to Lee May, who ironically became an Oriole a few years later.
That pitch definitely changed Watt’s standing among the fans. In every game I went to in the following years, while Watt was on the team, fans would start booing as soon as he began throwing in the bullpen.
Personally, I had mixed feelings about the home run. While it would’ve been nice to have the Orioles sweep the series, the homer meant I could attend more World Series game in person at Memorial Stadium. When the Orioles swept the Dodgers in 1966, the only ticket I had was for a fifth game, which was never played.
The thing I always remember about Watt is he threw almost side-arm. It was kind of a cross between the regular overhand motion and submarine style. However, whenever he would get ahead of a hitter 0-2, he would reach back and throw an overhand, fastfall, with a bit of an exaggerated motion like Jim Palmer, and usually get either a swinging or called third strike.
Thanks for stirring all these terrific memories from Memorial Stadium, which will always be my favorite Orioles park. You couldn’t beat the price and location of upper deck seats in Section 1, behind the plate.
I have this image in my mind, sitting in Memorial Stadium late at night, watching Eddie Watt come on in relief for the Birds.
Something tells me you aren't the only one with the image in mind.
As a teenager growing up during the glory years, personally I have very good memories of the Watt , Reichert back end of the pen. Pete more for me being a lefty.