Willie Wilson (baseball)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Willie Wilson (baseball player))
Jump to: navigation, search
For other people named Willie Wilson, see William Wilson (disambiguation).
Willie Wilson
Center fielder / Left fielder
Born: (1955-07-09) July 9, 1955 (age 56)
Montgomery, Alabama
Batted: Switch Threw: Right 
MLB debut
September 4, 1976 for the Kansas City Royals
Last MLB appearance
May 16, 1994 for the Chicago Cubs
Career statistics
Batting average     .285
Hits     2,207
Runs batted in     585
Stolen bases     668
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Willie James Wilson (born July 9, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball player for the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago Cubs. He was an outfielder known for his speed and ability as an effective leadoff hitter.

Wilson was a highly regarded high school baseball, football, and basketball player in Summit, New Jersey.[1] Wilson was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the first round of the 1974 draft, and he made his debut with the team as a September call-up two years later. He led the league in stolen bases in 1979, his first season as a full-time player in the majors. In 1980 he led the league in plate appearances, and his 705 official at-bats that season were a major league record until it was surpassed by Jimmy Rollins in 2007. Additionally, Wilson won a batting title in 1982, with a .332 batting average.

Willie was an American League All-Star in 1982 & 1983. Wilson was named an OF on The Sporting News AL Silver Slugger Team in 1980 & 1982. Wilson also won a Gold Glove and finished 4th in the MVP voting during his record setting 1980 campaign. Wilson led the American League in singles for 4 consecutive seasons (1979–1982).

In 1983, Wilson found himself in a drug scandal along with teammates Willie Aikens, Vida Blue, and Jerry Martin. All four pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug charges (attempting to purchase cocaine) and became the first active major leaguers to serve jail time, serving 81 days at Fort Worth, Texas, Federal Correctional Institution. He was suspended by commissioner Bowie Kuhn for the entire 1984 season, but the suspension was reduced on appeal and he was able to return on May 15. The Royals traded or released the other three, with only Wilson returning to the Royals, and he hit .301 and stole 47 bases after his return.

Wilson left the Royals following the 1990 season and he wound up his career with two seasons in Oakland and parts of two seasons with the Chicago Cubs, mostly as a fourth outfielder. Wilson retired with a .285 career batting average and 668 stolen bases. He was elected to the Royals Hall of Fame in 2000.

Wilson coached in the Toronto Blue Jays system in 1995 and 1997. He currently runs The Willie Wilson Baseball Foundation in Kansas City, MO.

In 2003, Wilson was named field manager of the London Monarchs Baseball Club in the fledgling Canadian Baseball League, but the league folded half-way through the 2003 season.

Wilson also came out of retirement in 2009, signing a one-day contract with the Kansas City T-Bones, an independent minor league team playing in the Northern League.

Contents

[edit] Career Notes

Wilson struck out against Tug McGraw for the final out of the 1980 World Series, which the Royals lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. This strikeout was Wilson's 12th of the Series, breaking the record of 11 held jointly by Eddie Mathews and Wayne Garrett in the 1958 and 1973 World Series, respectively. Ryan Howard would break Wilson's record by striking out 13 times in the 2009 World Series.

In later post season series, Wilson gained a measure of redemption from the albatross of that performance, hitting .310 against Toronto in the 1985 ALCS and .367 against the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1985 World Series, and stealing seven bases in the 1992 ALCS against Toronto, tying Lou Brock's record for steals in one post-season (Brock stole seven bases each in the 1967 and 1968 World Series).

In 1982, Wilson became the first switch-hitter since Mickey Mantle in 1956 to win the American League batting title. The only switch-hitters to lead the A.L. in batting since then are Bernie Williams in 1998 and Bill Mueller in 2003.

For his career, Wilson hit 13 inside-the-park home runs, the most of any Major League player playing after 1950.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rosen, Byron. "Royal Rookie Will o' Wisp To Claiborne", The Washington Post, May 3, 1978, Accessed February 18, 2011. "NFL draft day found Willie Wilson in New York with baseball's K.C. Royals, and the Associated Press remarked that if the erstwhile Summit, N.J., prep football flash had gone on to play with Maryland after signing a letter of intent, he might have gotten rich as a No. 1 pro football draft pick."

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Ron LeFlore		 American League Stolen Base Champion
1979		 Succeeded by
Rickey Henderson
Preceded by
Carney Lansford		 American League Batting Champion
1982		 Succeeded by
Wade Boggs
The franchise
Ballparks
Culture
Lore
Rivalries
Team Hall of Fame
Retired numbers
5 • 10 • 20 • 42
Minors
Key personnel
Owner: David Glass • General Manager: Dayton Moore • Manager: Ned Yost
World Series
championships (1)
American League
pennants (2)
Division titles
Western: 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1980 • 1981 (second half) • 1984 • 1985 • Central: none • Wild Card: none
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Willie_Wilson_(baseball)&oldid=476575862"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages