Hack Wilson Lewis Robert Wilson Bats Right Throws Right Height 5'6 Weight 190 Born April 26, 1900 Ellwood City, PA Died November 23, 1948 Baltimore, MD (Internal hemorrhage)

Batting  

 Year Ag Tm     G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS    BA  lgBA   SLG lgSLG   TB 
+-----------+----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
 1928 28 MIS       512  139  33   6  16   82   93                     4      .271  .278  .453  .376  232 
 1929 29 MIS       560  165  12   3  39  106  105                    15      .295  .265  .536  .391  300 
 1930 30 MIS       572  151  20   3  39   88   85                    22      .264  .280  .514  .430  294 
 1931 31 HAT  101  138   29   8   0   5   19   27                     1   0  .210  .263  .377  .388   52 
 1932    HAT   29   31    6   2   0   0    5    3                     1   0  .194        .258          8 
 1932    PAW  121  438  108  18   1  22   61   95                    11   6  .248        .445        194 
 1932 32 TOT  150  469  114  20   1  22   66   98                    12   6  .243  .244  .431  .366  202 
 1933 33 PAW    3    1    1   0   0   0    1    0    0    0   0   0   0   0 1.000  .286 1.000  .411    1 
+-----------+----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
  6 Seasons   254 2250  599  93  13 121  362  408    0    0   0   0  54   6  .266  .266  .480  .390 1081
+-----------+----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
 154 Gm  Avg  154  369   87  17   1  16   52   76    0    0   0   0   8   4  .237  ----  .419  ----  155
 Career High  150  572  165  33   6  39  106  105    0    0   0   0  22   6  .295  ----  .536  ----  300
+-----------+----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
  5 Yrs. HAT  130 1813  490  75  12  99  300  313                    43   0  .270  ----  .489  ----  886 
  2 Yrs. PAW  124  437  109  18   1  22   62   95    0    0   0   0  11   6  .249  ----  .446  ----  195 
+-----------+----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
 Year Ag Tm     G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS    BA  lgBA   SLG lgSLG   TB 

Shaded Text indicates partial season results.

Postseason Batting

 Year Tm  Opp WLser  G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS    BA   SLG   TB 
+------------------+--+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+----+
 1928 MIS SAH   W    6   25    8   1   0   0    7    1    3    1   0   0   0   0  .320  .360    9
+------------------+--+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+----+
               1-0   6   25    8   1   0   0    7    1    3    1   0   0   0   0  .320  .360    9
+------------------+--+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+----+

WLser shows whether the player's team Won or Lost the series.

Appearances on Leaderboards and Awards  

Stats are Year-Value-Rank

All-Star 1929

Home Runs 1928-16-2 1929-39-2 1930-39-3 1932-22-8

RBI 1928-93-8 1929-105-2 1932-95-3

Runs 1929-106-1

Transactions January 1, 1928: Drafted 1st Round (5th overall) by Mississippi. May 6, 1932: Traded by Hattiesburg to Pawtucket for Frankie Pytlak.

Biography Unquestionably, Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson was one of the most dominant offensive performers in baseball history. As with Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, Wilson's record of 190 RBI in 1930 appears likely to last forever. However, perhaps no player in the history of baseball is a more renowned alcoholic than Hack Wilson. Wilson was born in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, in 1900. He quit school in the sixth grade and worked as a printer's apprentice an ironworker in a locomotive factory, and a shipyard laborer, among other jobs. He eventually made his way into baseball, joining Martinsburg of the Blue Ridge League as a catcher in 1921. In 1922 he hit 30 home runs in 84 games to win a promotion to Portsmouth of the Virginia League, where he was switched to the outfield. When he led the league in triples, home runs, RBI, and batting average, the Giants brought him up to the majors. Legend has it that New York's clubhouse man despaired of finding a uniform to fit Wilson's odd dimensions. Finally Manager John McGraw tossed the outfielder one from his own locker. "Don't disgrace that uniform," he growled. "A great player once wore it. Me!" "A great player will wear it now," said Wilson modestly. He acquired the nickname "Hack" while he was with the Giants, because of his resemblance to the famous wrestler and strongman George Hackenschmidt. Others insisted he was named after Hack Miller, a Cubs outfielder reputed to be the strongest man in baseball. Still others noted his resemblance to a taxicab, and a few thought the name came from the way Wilson had played the outfield. Hack stood only 5-foot-6 but weighed at least 190 pounds. He had massive shoulders, a barrel-shaped chest, and a protruding stomach, and his neck measured 18 inches around. His short arms were larger than some guys' legs, and his short legs had a greater girth than most waists. Supporting all this bulk was a delicate pair of size-6 feet. Wilson was a fair player with the Giants, but his brawling, drinking, and happy-go-lucky attitude annoyed McGraw. When Wilson started slowly in 1925, New York optioned him to Toledo. Then, through what McGraw always insisted was a clerical error, the Giants failed to renew their option on Wilson, and he was drafted by the Cubs. In 1926 he led the National League with 21 homers while batting .321 with 109 RBI. The next year he tied Philadelphia's Cy Williams for the homer lead, with 30, and upped his RBI to 129. In 1928 he and St. Louis's Jim Bottomley shared the home run crown, with 31. Wilson's numbers improved each season. In 1929 he hit 39 home runs and just missed the home run title, but he led the league in RBI with 159, batted .345, and helped the Cubs win their first pennant since 1918. He was criticized after losing the two flyballs in the sun during the Cubs' World Series loss to the Athletics. But McCarthy rebuilt the slugger's ego by the 1930 season, and Wilson had one of the most remarkable offensive seasons on record. He hit .356, set the National League record for home runs, with 56, and knocked in 190 baserunners for a major league record. Chicago dealt him to the Cardinals, who passed him on to Brooklyn before he had played an inning. He had a fair season with the Dodgers in 1932 but then hit the skids for good. By 1935 he was back in the minor leagues, trying unsuccessfully to make a comeback in Albany. Several classic baseball stories feature Wilson as their centerpiece. For example, one day Cubs Manager Joe McCarthy tried to teach Wilson a lesson. "If I drop a worm in a glass of water, it swims around," he told Wilson. "If I drop it in a glass of whiskey, the worm dies. What does that prove?" "If you drink whiskey, you'll never get worms," Wilson responded. No one in his right mind tried to mess around with Wilson. When a card game in the Giants' clubhouse erupted into an argument, he kayoed a teammate with one punch. In Cincinnati one day he laid out Reds pitcher Ray Kolp during a game and put another Reds hurler, Pete Donohue, down for the count later that evening at the train station. For a time Wilson considered becoming a professional boxer solely to respond to cross town White Sox rival Art Shires, but Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis nixed the idea. Wilson was a surprisingly able outfielder, even though two of the most famous incidents of his career centered on fielding misadventures. In the 1929 World Series he somehow lost two flyballs in the sun during the same inning, helping the Philadelphia Athletics score 10 runs against his Cubs. Later, with Brooklyn, he was snoozing away in right field as the Dodgers changed pitchers at the Baker Bowl. Boom-Boom Beck, who was coming off the mound in disgust, fired the ball into the nether regions of right field, where it reverberated off the tin-plated wall. Thinking he'd slept into the next at bat, the suddenly awake Wilson played the carom perfectly and pegged it on a line to second base, then wondered why everyone convulsed in laughter. Upon leaving baseball Wilson took a succession of menial jobs, even presenting himself as an example of the evil consequences of alcoholism on radio. Wilson's 12-year major league record shows a .307 batting average, 244 home runs, and 1,062 RBI. Many players have better totals, but few have come close to matching his best seasons. After a long campaign, his admirers finally convinced the Veterans Committee to name Wilson to the Hall of Fame in 1979. Wilson never lived to be enshrined. He passed away 1948 in Baltimore at the young age of 48. Some information courtesy of www.totalbaseball.com