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Show DIDN'T LIKE NAME OF YANKEE TEAM Watson Couldn't Stand for New York American Leacrue Club. o The recent release of Pitcher John Wnl son by the New York Giants recalls re-calls an interesting yarn Watson was wont to tell pertaining to the way he dodged a possible chance to play with the Yankees. Watson was playing with Fort Smith then. A Yankee scout dropped into Tulsa, Okla., vlere the Fort Smith team was to play a series. The word got to Watson that the scout wanted to see him pitch and had a contract 'ready for him to sign If lie showed the right amount of promise. Watson, born and raised In Louisiana, Louisi-ana, had seen or heard little of the world when he began to play baseball and carried an Inborn hatred of the word "Yankee," inherited from his ancestors an-cestors of Civil war days. So he decided de-cided he didn't want to play with a team bearing that name.' Tulsa failed to collect more than a hit or two off him in four innings. Watson started to figure out some other way of discouraging the "ivory I iL John Watson. hunter." Suddenly he had a bright idea. He sat down on the bench after the next inning, calmly took off his shoes and socks, and with them in his hand walked across the diamond, through the exit gate and on to the hotel, a few blocks away. The scout saw him go. Later, when Watson sat in the lobby of the hotel, the scout gave him the nee over with an odd expression on his face, then checked out and headed tor the depot. Watson saw him go and followed him to the train to make sure he had departed. Later on Watson got a chance to show his stuff to one of Connie Mack's senilis. |