After over 100 years, Major League Baseball was rapidly approaching the one millionth run in history. Houston Astros Bob Watson managed to cross home plate just seconds ahead of Dave Concepcion to find his place in the record books.
The countdown was on. It was highly likely that the one millionth run in Major League Baseball would be scored on this day in 1975; it was just a question of which player would end up with that honor.
With the MLB hyping the event, and a counter in every ballpark, there were quite a few prizes available. The player to score the run would get a Seiko watch worth $1000, one million pennies that would be given to charity and one million Tootsie Rolls. Fans had the chance to guess the player to score the run to get the pennies and the Tootsie Rolls as well.
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There were two attempts to score the run before Houston Astros first baseman Bob Watson crossed the plate with the milestone run. Rod Carew and Chris Chambliss had a chance to score that run, but were thrown out at the plate to give Watson that opportunity. Yet, it was still a race to home plate to score that run.
In the top of the second, Astros catcher Milt May hit a three run home run. Watson, on second, sprinted around the bases to score the run. Meanwhile, Dave Concepcion of the Reds hit a home run as well, and was running around the bases to get that run. Watson would beat the Reds shortstop by a second or two, but not before the Reds would celebrate thinking that Concepcion had scored that millionth run.
As for the prizes, Watson asked that the Tootsie Rolls be given to the Boys and Girls Club, since he didn’t want his children to be around all that candy. The watch, made of platinum, is still one of his prized possessions from his playing days. The home plate from Candlestick Park, and Watson’s cleats, are at Cooperstown.
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On this day in 1975, Bob Watson sprinted around the bases to score the one millionth run in baseball history. Along the way, he became quite the trivia answer.