Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Big Fan of Willie Wilson Over Here

I'm sure like a lot of you out there, I always have room in my allegiances for a "second-favorite team". Right now that team is probably the Padres or the Angels, but over the course of my life it's usually been either the Oakland A's, and most frequently the Kansas City Royals. Man, I loved those early 80s Royals - Brett, White, McRae, Otis, Leonard, Quisenberry - and especially one Willie Wilson, the base-stealing, high-avg. left fielder who finished high-up in MVP voting four different times and who - and I've never forgotten this, down to the number itself - had 705 official at-bats in 1980. Now that's some durability at the top of the lineup. During my youth he was easily my favorite non-SF Giants player on the planet.

About six years ago my dad and I flew down to Scottsdale, AZ for spring training and to see the Giants, the first and only time I've done that. I went downstairs, below the rafters, to grab a beer or something, and sitting there at a table, all by themselves with no line, no security - nothing - were none other than Gaylord Perry and Willie Wilson, signing (paid) autographs. I was so stupefied to see these two heroes just sitting there, gabbing to each other, that I quickly shuffled by them. I mean, what am I going to say - "Hey, nice career Willie, great to see ya"? I'm not very good at that sort of thing. Now I'll probably never see the guy again.

Earlier this year I picked up a handful of Wilson cards, all from the 80s and 90s, probably for a collective total of about four bucks. Nothing rare, nothing especially exciting - just pure, unadulterated Willie Wilson. Did you know he was on the Cubs at the end of his career, in 1993-94? I'd certainly forgotten it if I'd ever known. 








6 comments:

  1. The Royals were unstoppable in 1980. Until they played the Phillies. :)

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  2. I grew up near Kansas City and went to a lot of Royals games in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Willie Wilson was always one of my favorite players. The only inside the park home run I’ve ever seen was one he hit. He lead off the bottom of the first, scored and the final was 1-0.
    Wilson was in St. Louis, 6-7 years ago for a card show. I went over, after he had signed for those who had paid, and asked about the home run. He was very nice and we chatted for 15-20 minutes. I remember hearing and reading that during his playing career he wasn’t very fan friendly. That may be, but extremely gracious and I was thankful I had the opportunity to meet and talk to him.

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  3. The Royals were my second favorite during that era, too, sometimes even my favorite--I wore a Royals cap for a while. George Brett was the number one reason, but Wilson--who came from the same part of NJ that I lived in--was another big reason.

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  4. Nothing in baseball is more exiciting than watching Willie hit a triple.

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  5. When I first started getting into baseball, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world to see guys steal bases. Willie Wilson was one of the best right around that time.

    Padres are potentially your second favorite team? Lol. Can't imagine your fellow Giants fans are gonna like that ;D

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  6. Good to know someone else was impressed with Willie's 705 AB. Loved that as a kid!

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