Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1986
- Class:
- 1930
One of the greatest all-around athletes to don the Green and White, Johnny Watson was a starter from Day 1 for the Marshall football, basketball and baseball teams, played in the Major Leagues for the Detroit Tigers and went on to a coaching and officiating career after his playing days were over. Watson came to Marshall in 1927 out of Gary, W.Va., and immediately became a starting end for the football team, a center for the basketball team and the shortstop for the baseball team. In his sophomore season, Coach Trusty Tallman’s football team outscored the opposition 175-33 on the way to an 8-1-1 record, earning the nickname “Thundering Herd” from Huntington sportswriter Duke Ridgley on the way to a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. As a 6-foot center for the basketball team, during an era where it was unusual for the team to score as many as 50 points in a game, Watson was the third-leading scorer in the WVIAC as he averaged eight points per game.
Watson’s star shone brightest on the baseball diamond, where he led Marshall to three straight WVIAC titles, serving as team captain as a sophomore and junior. As a junior, Watson led Coach Johnny Stuart’s team to a 14-1 record that included two wins over West Virginia University – Watson clubbed a grand slam in a 6-3 victory – and two more over Notre Dame. He left school prior to his senior baseball season to join the Detroit Tigers for spring training in Florida, advancing to the big-league club to play in four games at the end of that 1930 season, going 3-for-12 at the bat with three RBIs.
After playing three more years in the Tigers’ minor league system, Watson became a minor league manager for a few seasons and even spent one year as Marshall’s baseball coach in 1943. After serving as a U.S. Navy lieutenant during World War II, Watson became a highly respected referee and umpire in the Tri-State area and was instrumental in organizing the Marshall booster club that eventually became the Big Green Scholarship Foundation, serving as the group's first secretary. He was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.
