Primary Positions: Catcher, pinch hitter
Birthplace: Yanceyville
First, Middle Names: Julius Neal
Date of Birth: Dec. 25, 1922 Date and Place of Death: Dec. 29, 2019, Yanceyville
Burial: Yanceyville Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Yanceyville
High School: Bartlett Yancey High School, Yanceyville
College: Did Not Attend
Bats: L Throws: R Height and Weight: 6-0. 195
Debut Year: 1953 Final Year: 1953 Years Played: 1
Team and Year: Philadelphia Athletics, 1953
Career Summary
G AB H R RBI HR BA. OBP. SLG. WAR
21 44 7 4 3 0 .159 .213 .182 -0.3
Neal Watlington went off to war in 1943. Unlike other ballplayers of his generation, Watlington actually fought the enemy. He didn’t play ball to entertain the troops. He was one of them who slogged through France and Germany. He went back home to Yanceyville in Caswell County when it was all over with a Purple Heart for wounds he would always pass off as mere “nicks.” He later played a few weeks in the big leagues and then settled in to become a pillar of his hometown. He died in 2019, a few days past his 97th birthday, as one of the oldest-living ballplayers.