2024 MSBL World Series Hall of Fame Inductee: Cedric Watson, Los Angeles, California
By Steve LaMontia, Director of Communications
Cedric Watson is 67 years old and has been involved in various Los Angeles area leagues since 1988 and has played at the MSBL World Series equally as long. Not one for self-promotion, his friends have been happy to carry the workload and promote Cedric’s achievements and love of the game.
This year their efforts finally paid off, as MSBL Founder and President Steve Sigler has honored Cedric by inducting him into the 2024 class of the MSBL World Series Hall of Fame.
“It is a great honor to be inducted into the World Series Hall of Fame as a player for 37 years,” said Cedric. “Firstly, I need to give thanks and honor my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Second, I need to give honor to Mr. Steve Sigler for the dream of this league and for dreamers who may have been overlooked as baseball players.”
Fellow MSBL World Series Hall of Fame member Gary Firestone has been a major promoter of Cedric and has been involved with Cedric on and off the field for decades.
“I won my first championship in 1999 on the Pirates with Gary Firestone and I continue to play on his teams to this day. My son and I play on his Waikiki Beach Boys Father/Son team and we have shared many World Series memories, along with a few rings along the way.”
“Cedric Watson started in MSBL with me in Los Angeles in 1988,” explained Firestone. “He has played every year since then and will play on my 60+ Waikiki Beach Boys World Series team as well as my Father/Son team in 2024. He has participated in 33 World Series tournaments.
He played on the same Locke High School baseball team in South Central Los Angeles as MLB Hall of Famers Eddie Murray and Ozzie Smith and played on the same little league team as Darryl Strawberry when Cedric was 12 and Darryl was only six years old. He taught Darryl how to play baseball!
He currently coaches baseball at Compton College. He has brought over 75 players from South Central Los Angeles to play in the MSBL, including Vince Woods, Darren Fleming, and ex-major leaguers Lorenzo Gray, Darrel Thomas, and Sterling Roux.”
Where did this baseball sojourn begin and what does it involve?
“I started playing at the age of ten alongside my neighbor Billy Cowens, the cousin of Al Cowens. We used to play ‘strike out’ along the nearby cement wall. I played at LeRoy Locke High School in Los Angeles, which was also the home of Eddie Murray and Ozzie Smith.
Kenny Landrum was my campus guide as I toured Arizona State on a recruiting visit but I decided to go to Langston University in Oklahoma.”
Gary and Cedric continue to play in a 35-over league in Los Angeles while chasing more World Series dreams alongside friends and ballplayers in Arizona who are three decades older.
Any final comments?
“I will never forget Mr. Steve Sigler for being a true man, husband, loving father, and a visionary for making individual’s dreams come true. He has managed to reach all of us who have a heart for baseball, America’s pastime.
You have made a difference in so many friendships and acquaintances. My heart is touched by this honor. I hope and pray I have represented MSBL well during my play during the World Series throughout the years.
In conclusion, I need to give thanks to many people who have impacted my life in so many ways. My Dad and Mother who have gone to Glory in Heaven, my Grandparents who loved me, and my wife who is the jewel of my life. My brothers who helped me and shaped me, and my sons who helped me become a dad and a father.
Also, my cousins, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, my stepbrother and step-sister, and finally, Gary D’Ambrisi. I haven’t forgotten about you, my brother! I love you so much.”
I love this game…