Dripping in champagne in the Yankee clubhouse was not a position Allen Watson expected to be in when he came to spring training this year, unless it was in the visitors’ clubhouse. The lefthanded reliever started spring training in a Met uniform, was traded midseason to the Mariners where he thought he had no hope, and then ended up playing for a team he grew up watching as a kid in Queens.
“This is unbelievable,” Watson said of his first World Series championship. “This just brings tears to my eyes. I grew up coming here watching the Yankees with my father. I always wanted to be a Yankee. Coming here was a dream come true.”
Watson said he enjoyed his time with the Mets, especially becoming friends with fellow lefties John Franco, Al Leiter and Dennis Cook. He would have been happy to stay with them. But the Mets sent him packing to Seattle in a deal that was essentially to clear out money, and Watson was devastated.
“The trade killed me,” he said. “I enjoyed the Mets. I wanted to stay there. But this is OK.”
Watson looked around at the champagne-soaked Yankee clubhouse and all the revelry that was taking place.
After an unsuccessful stint with the Mariners, Watson was let go and the Yankees picked him up. He pitched well in Pinstripes, going 4-1 with a 3.83 ERA and became the 10th player to play for both the Mets and Yankees in one season. No matter how distraught he was to be sent packing by the Mets, last night’s celebration made it all worthwhile.
“I guess it worked out OK,” he said. “To win a championship in my home town for the team I loved as a kid. I knew I could pitch here.”