John Clifford Watwood (August 17, 1905 – March 1, 1980), nicknamed "Lefty", was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, playing mainly at

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the cen ...

for three different teams between the and seasons. Listed at , 186 lb., Watwood batted and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

. A native of

Alexander City, Alabama Alexander City, known to locals as "Alex City", is the largest city in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, United States, with a population of 14,843 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It has been the largest ...

, he attended

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

. A strong-armed outfielder and basically a line-drive hitter, Watwood entered the majors in April 1929 with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, playing for them until April 1932 before joining the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1932–1933) and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

(1939). His most productive season came with the 1930 White Sox, when he posted career-highs in games (133),

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(.382), runs (75), RBI (51), extrabases (31) and

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

(.382). In 1931 Watwood hit .283 in 128 games for Chicago, and later was sent to the Red Sox in a five-player transaction that included teammates OF

Smead Jolley Smead Powell Jolley (January 14, 1902 – November 17, 1991) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played from 1922 to 1941, including four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1930 to 1933. Jolley was considered a good hit ...

and C

Bennie Tate Henry Bennett Tate (December 3, 1901 – October 27, 1973) was an American professional baseball catcher in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators (1901–60), Washington Senators (1924–30), Chicago White Sox (1930–32), Boston Red ...

in exchange for C

Charlie Berry Charles Francis Berry (October 18, 1902 – September 6, 1972) was an American athlete and sports official who enjoyed careers as a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as an end and official in the National Football League. His fat ...

and OF

Jack Rothrock Jack Houston Rothrock (March 14, 1905 – February 2, 1980) was an American professional baseball utility player in Major League Baseball who played with four teams between the 1925 and 1937 seasons. Listed at , 165 lb., Rothrock was a swit ...

. While in Boston, he served as a backup for Jolley ( LF),

Tom Oliver Tom Oliver (born 12 June 1938) is a British naturalised Australian retired actor. Oliver is best known locally and internationally for his long-running role in TV soap opera ''Neighbours'' as Lou Carpenter, a role he played for 25 years bec ...

( CF) and Roy Johnson ( RF). After that, Watwood spent five years in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

(1934–1938),

managing Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

also the 1938

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...

before returning to major league with the Phillies. In a six-year majors career, Watwood was a .283 hitter (403-for-1423) with five

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 158 RBI in 469 games, including 192 runs, 66 doubles, 16

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 27

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s, and a solid 1.50

walk-to-strikeout ratio In baseball statistics Baseball statistics include a variety of metrics used to evaluate player and team performance in the sport of baseball. Because the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and player activity is characteristica ...

(154-to-103). In 299 outfield appearances, he posted a collective .948

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

(40

errors An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

in 776

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

) and also played 86 games at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

(.982, 15 errors, 844 TC). From 1929 Watwood lived in

Goodwater, Alabama Goodwater is a town in Coosa County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,291. It is part of the Talladega-Sylacauga Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Goodwater is located near the northeast corner of Coosa ...

where he died in 1980 at the age of 74.

References

External links

Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watwood, Johnny Boston Red Sox players Chicago White Sox players Houston Buffaloes managers Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball first basemen Auburn Tigers baseball players Baseball players from Alabama 1905 births 1980 deaths People from Alexander City, Alabama People from Goodwater, Alabama Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Shreveport Sports players Alexandria Reds players Newark Bears (International League) players Syracuse Chiefs players Memphis Chickasaws players Houston Buffaloes players Rochester Red Wings players Oklahoma City Indians players 20th-century American sportsmen