Hack Wilson

Infobox MLB retired
name=Hack Wilson
position=Outfielder


birthdate=birth date|1900|4|26|mf=y
city-state|Ellwood City|Pennsylvania
deathdate=death date and age|1948|11|23|1900|4|26
city-state|Baltimore|Maryland
bats=Right
throws=Right
debutdate=September 29
debutyear=1923
debutteam=New York Giants
finaldate=August 25
finalyear=1934
finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies
stat1label=Batting average
stat2label=Home runs
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat1value=.307
stat2value=244
stat3value=1063
teams=
*New York Giants (1923-1925)
*Chicago Cubs (1926-1931)
*Brooklyn Dodgers (1932-1934)
*Philadelphia Phillies (1934)
highlights=
*National League pennant: 1924, 1929
*Single-season RBI record holder (191)
*National League home run champion: 1926-1928, 1930
*National League RBI champion: 1929, 1930
*2-time National League base on balls leader
*4 seasons with 30+ home runs
*6 seasons with 100+ RBIs
hofdate=by|1979
hofmethod=Veteran's Committee

Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson (April 26, 1900 – November 23, 1948) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball from by|1923 to by|1934. He is best known for his record-setting 191-RBI season of by|1930. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.

Biography

Wilson was a true rags-to-riches story. He grew up in the Pennsylvania steel mill town of Ellwood City. Although only 5'6" tall, he weighed 195 pounds, mostly muscle, and had an 18" neck but only size-6 shoes. One sports writer wrote that he was built along the lines of a beer keg, and not wholly unfamiliar with its contents.

During his career, Hack Wilson played for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies. Wilson eclipsed the 100-RBI mark in 6 seasons. He set the National League single-season record for home runs with 56 in 1930, a record that stood until 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both surpassed it, with 70 and 66 respectively. The current National League single-season record for home runs is held by all-time home run leader Barry Bonds, who hit 73 in 2001.

Wilson's 1930 season was one of the best ever by a hitter. In addition to hitting 56 home runs, and thus becoming the first National Leaguer and Major League righty to hit over 50 homers, he led the league with 105 walks, and boasting a batting average of .356, he drove in 191 runs, a mark that remains one of the most untouchable MLB records. (For years, record books gave the total as 190, until research in 1999 showed that an RBI credited by an official scorer to Charlie Grimm actually belonged to Wilson.) He recorded that total without hitting a grand slam.

In one game, Wilson was at bat and Bill Klem was the plate umpire. A close pitch went by and Klem called, "Strike!" Wilson said, "Strike? Bill, you sure missed that one." Klem answered, "Perhaps I did, Lewis; but if I'd had your bat, I wouldn't have."

Although his career was brilliant, it was fairly short. He finished his 12 year career having played 1,348 games with a lifetime batting average of .307, 244 home runs, and 1,063 RBI. His excessive alcoholism led him to a premature death at the age of 48. He is buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Martinsburg, West Virginia. There is a street in Martinsburg called Hack Wilson Way, in honor of Wilson.

ee also

* 50 home run club
* List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
* Top 500 home run hitters of all time
* List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBIs
* Hitting for the cycle
* List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
* List of Major League Baseball home run champions
* Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game
* Major League Baseball titles leaders
* Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1953

References

*"Fouled Away: The Baseball Tragedy of Hack Wilson" by Clifton Blue Parker (McFarland & Company 2000) ISBN 0786408642.

External links

*
*
* [http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Wilson.Hack.Obit.html The Deadball Era]