> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Taking one for the team - URL: https://www.smdp.com/taking-one-for-the-team/ - Published: 2007-10-08T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T03:16:40.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Sports, Santa Monica, #archive-import *De Jon Watson wants to stay a Dodger for life* LOS ANGELES It’s always been said that for a team that doesn’t reach its potential, resulting in another “what if” season, that there’s “always next year.” That’s the outlook De Jon Watson and Los Angelenos will have to take as the Major League Baseball playoffs conclude the divisional series this week and head into the championship series sans his team — the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the world of Major League Baseball and all that goes on behind the scenes, there isn’t time to think of any “what ifs.” For Watson and the Dodgers organization, it’s going to be another busy off-season, time to start looking ahead and planning for what will hopefully be a 2008 campaign in which a World Series trophy will return to Chavez Ravine for the first time since 1988. The 2007 season was Watson’s first full year with the Dodgers organization as the director of player development. Hired in October 2006, Watson finally saw his 15-year career in the majors reach the one local team he grew up idolizing as a kid, the team he dreamed of playing for when he was a teenager playing baseball on Santa Monica High School’s field. “It’s a great organization,” Watson said in an interview last month. “There’s so much history here.” Watson grew up all over Southern California, following his father to cities like Baldwin Hills, Compton and Encino. It was because of a close cousin that Watson decided he wanted to attend Santa Monica High School. His cousin — seven years his elder — was a star football and baseball player at Samohi who later attended Brigham Young University to play football. Watson followed in his cousin’s footsteps, playing on Samohi’s baseball and football teams for three years, winning the CIF football title in 1982 and coming in as a runner-up the following year — his senior year. During his senior year, the baseball team reached the playoffs. Samohi was crawling with future Hollywood celebrities when Watson was a student. Dean Cain, Chad and Rob Lowe and Charlie Sheen — who played on the baseball team — were among his classmates. Holly Robinson-Peete, who back then was known as just Holly Robinson, was Watson’s French tutor. “Holly Robinson was a great girl and super friendly,” said Watson, who graduated from Samohi in 1983\. “She went to college and the next thing you know, she was on ‘21 Jump Street.’” > “It’s an adjustment period once you are done,” > “Like when you’re a student who goes to college and now college is over and you think, now what do I do?” — he said. he said > “You were able to do whatever you wanted to do,” Samohi had the vibe of a college campus, Watson said, describing a cohesive community where students were not alienated by their peers. Students were respected by their educators and encouraged to expand their horizons. Football could never hold a candle to baseball. In 1985, Watson’s dreams came true — he was drafted out of West L.A. Community College in the 1985 professional baseball draft by the Kansas City Royals. Alas, his time would be short as a professional player. After two injuries, five years in A-ball and AA, and watching countless of his teammates move on to the majors, Watson was released. Watson went back to school and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management in 1992 from the University of Redlands. Baseball would never be far from his mind as Watson helped out occasionally with the RBI youth baseball program. His first baseball gig working behind the scenes in professional baseball came in the early 1990s with the Florida Marlins, scouting at a time when the expansion franchise was just starting out. He spent the next few years with the Marlins, including 1997 when the team won its first World Series title. The experience with the Marlins opened up doors and Watson went on to become the scouting director for the Cincinnati Reds and later the director of professional scouting for the Cleveland Indians, holding that title for four years. In his scouting career, Watson discovered the likes of Ben Broussard, the current first baseman for the Seattle Mariners, Adam Dunn, the left fielder for the Cincinnati Reds, and BJ Ryan, the closer for the Toronto Blue Jays. It was last year when Watson made the jump from scouting to player development, joining the Dodgers organization. Watson was finally back home. Watson still remembers attending his first Dodgers game. He was 7 years old spending the day with grandpa taking in a Sunday afternoon game, basking in the sun out in the left field pavilion. “I don’t remember the score of the game, but I remember being here at Dodger Stadium, driving up and getting a Dodger Dog,” Watson said with a smile on his face. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/100807-02_01.jpg) Ocampo/L.A. (Photo: Photo courtesy Juan) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/100807-02_02.jpg) SooHoo/L.A. (Photo: Photo courtesy Jon) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 8, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/100807.pdf?ref=smdp.com)