Tony Watson - San Francisco Giant, Husker, and Iowan
“I consider myself a well-rounded pitcher athlete”
Season 9 of the podcast has an Iowa baseball Giant to throw out the first pitch. Literally, Tony Watson of Dallas Center-Grimes is back to baseball playing for the San Fransico Giants. He took time out of his 48 hours in quarantine when returning to baseball to talk about his career on the bump.
Watson played for the Mustangs of DC-G and had one of the most dominant seasons in high school baseball as a senior in 2003. Throwing three no-hitters and giving up only 1 run, Watson made a name for himself and was selected in the 23rd round of the 2003 MLB draft by the Marlins. Instead of heading South, Watson took his talents to Lincoln to play for Nebraska at one of the highpoints in Cornhusker baseball history. Watson played alongside 8 guys that went into the majors, including Joba Chamberlin and Alex Gordon who was the number 2 pick that year.
“A few things just kicked in and worked for me”
After a successful run for the Huskers, including that 2005 CWS season, Watson was drafted by the Pirates in the 9th round of the 2007 draft. Hard work and consistent success in the minors led to a dream 2011 debut. In his first of 43 appearances in the 2011 season, Watson struck out the first two batters he faced in his MLB career. The highpoint of his time in Pittsburgh was the 2014 season in which he had a 10-2 record, 78 appearances, and being named an All-Star.
In 2017, Watson was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers and ended up playing a critical role in the World Series, picking up 2 wins on the biggest stage in baseball. After winning a ring in LA, Watson moved down the round to join his current team in San Fransico. Watson carries 35 wins and a career 2.80 ERA into the COVID shortened season.
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Every listener to this podcast knows that a game of catch is rarely just a game of catch. Playing catch is an opportunity to connect with someone, whether you spend that time in conversation or just listening to the pop of the ball hitting the leather. Few understand this more than this week’s guest, Kevin Negaard. Negaard’s journey is nearing his goal of 365 consecutive days of catch. This endeavor has connected him with hundreds of partners, has spanned two continents, and led to two injections in his shoulder.