Hack Wilson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Personal Info | |
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| Birth | April 26, 1900, Ellwood City, PA |
| Death: | November 23, 1948, Baltimore, MD |
| Professional Career | |
| Debut | September 29, 1923, New York Giants vs. Brooklyn Robins, Ebbets Field |
| Team(s) | As Player New York Giants (1923 - 1925) Chicago Cubs (1926-1931) Brooklyn Dodgers (1932-1934) Philadelphia Phillies (1934) |
| HOF induction: | 1979 |
| Career Highlights | |
National League All-Star: 1933, 1934, 1935
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Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson (April 26, 1900 – November 23, 1948) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball from 1923 to 1934. He is best known for his record-setting 191-RBI season of 1930. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.
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[edit] 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 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.
Arguably, Wilson's 1930 season was the best ever by a hitter. In addition to hitting 56 home runs, leading 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. For comparison, when Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs, he drove in 137 runs.
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| Hack Wilson is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame |
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. He is buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Martinsburg, WV.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Baseball-Reference.com career statistics
- The Deadball Era
[edit] References
- Fouled Away: The Baseball Tragedy of Hack Wilson by Clifton Blue Parker (McFarland & Company 2000)
| Preceded by: Rogers Hornsby |
National League Home Run Champion 1926-1928 (1927 with Cy Williams 1928 with Jim Bottomley) |
Succeeded by: Chuck Klein |
| Preceded by: Chuck Klein |
National League Home Run Champion 1930 |
Succeeded by: Chuck Klein |
Categories: Baseball Hall of Fame | National League home run champions | Major league center fielders | Chicago Cubs players | People from Chicago | People from Pennsylvania | Major league players from Pennsylvania | 1900 births | 1948 deaths | Baseball players who have hit for the cycle | People from Martinsburg, West Virginia
