Jack Wilson (shortstop)

Infobox MLB player
name=Jack Wilson

Jack Eugene Wilson (born December 29, 1977 in Westlake Village, California) is a shortstop in Major League Baseball who has played with the Pittsburgh Pirates since 2001. He bats and throws right-handed.

In an eight-season career, Wilson has compiled a .269 batting average with 56 home runs and 358 RBI in 1084 games.

Wilson is one of the better defensive shortstops in the game. His glovework has been compared favorably with several former Pirate shortstops known for their defense, such as Dick Groat, Gene Alley and Jay Bell. He has outstanding range, particularly in the hole, great hands, a good throwing arm, and has sound reflexes and instincts for the game.

Early career

High School career

Wilson attended Thousand Oaks High School in Thousand Oaks, California and was a letterman in baseball. In baseball, he posted a batting average of .581 as a junior. He also played soccer and was a kicker on the football team.

College career

Wilson played for two seasons at Oxnard Junior College, the same baseball program that produced major leaguers Terry Pendleton, Josh Towers, Paul McAnulty and others. He was coached by Pat Woods, Jon Larsen, Roger Frash and Buster Staniland.

Professional career

Originally selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the by|1998 amateur draft, Wilson was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the by|2000 midseason and made his major league debut a year later. He was signed by Cardinals scout Chuck Fick.

Wilson had almost identical seasons in by|2002 and by|2003, hitting .252 with 22 doubles in 147 games and .256, 21, 150,respectively.

2004

Wilson easily enjoyed the finest season of his brief career in by|2004 as he set career highs in almost every category. He posted a .308 average, shared the league lead in triples with 12 (along with Jimmy Rollins), scored 82 runs, hit 41 doubles with 11 home runs and 49 RBI, and collected 201 hits (3rd in the league) in 157 games, including 56 multi-hit games. To cap it off he ended the year with a season-high 12-game hitting streak (17-for-46, .370). After hitting eighth in the batting order for most of his career, he became a fixture in the second slot.

With his 201 hits, Wilson became just the ninth National League shortstop to collect 200 hits in a season; the franchise's first player since Dave Parker (by|1977), and the first Pirates shortstop since Hall of Famer Honus Wagner (by|1908). Wilson also became the first Pirates player to collect 10 or more doubles, triples and home runs in the same season since Andy Van Slyke (by|1992).

Defensively, Wilson led National League shortstops in assists (492) and total chances (743); his 129 double plays led all major league shortstops and broke the club record of 128 — set by Gene Alley in by|1966 — and went 31 straight contests without making an error. Wilson was named for the 2004 All-Star Game and won the Silver Slugger at shortstop. He was also the Pirates' representative in the Roberto Clemente Award balloting.

2005

In December 2004, Wilson was hospitalized for an appendectomy. Despite the setback, he was optimistic at spring training by|2005. At 6-foot, 175-pound, Wilson had regained six of the 15 pounds he lost. However, he started the season poorly, hitting just .163 in April and .227 for the first half of the season, and acknowledged that he hadn't been fully recovered when the season started. Late season improvements to his hitting brought his cumulative season numbers to near his career averages, but still well below the standards he had set in 2004. He finished the year with a .257 batting average, a .299 on-base percentage, and a .363 slugging percentage, compared to his career highs of .308, .335, and .459 respectively the year before.

His defense, however, did not seem to suffer. For the second straight year he led all shortstops in the National League (and, in fact, all of baseball) in assists (523), total chances (783), and double plays (126). Largely because of Wilson and fellow defensive standout second baseman José Castillo, the Pirates turned more double plays in 2005 than any National League team save the Cardinals.

ee also

* List of Major League Baseball triples champions

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jack_Wilson_%28wilsoja02%29 BR Bullpen]