Willie Wilson was an integral part of the Royals teams of the 1980s. He, George Brett, Frank White, Amos Otis and Hal McRae were the nucleus of Royals teams that went to the World Series in 1980 and won the World Series in 1985.
Over the next 43 chapters that fit with the year-to-year arc of Willie’s career and life, you’ll learn how he has met and overcome many challenges in life.
Some would characterize Wilson as a “Punch-‘n’-Judy” hitter – he ranks second on the team for most singles in a career. But when Wilson reached first base he was in scoring position. Brett knocked him in 321 times – the second highest total of one teammate batting in another since 1950.
In 1980, the first season the Royals reached the World Series, Wilson had the most prolific year ever for a Royals’ batter, and it went largely unrecognized because Brett was chasing a .400 batting average that season. Wilson had 55 more hits than Brett that year. He had the most hits ever by a Royals player in a single season that year, the most plate appearances, most at bats, most singles and most multi-hit games from that season alone.
He still holds the Royals record for stolen bases with 83 in the 1979 season. He holds the single-season record for triples with 21 in the 1985 season.
In the ‘80s, Wilson was the Royals hitter, collecting 1,639 hits to Brett’s 1,446. His total ranked second in the Major Leagues to Robin Yount, who had 1,731 hits during the 1980s. In the 1980s Wilson scored 865 runs. That’s 12.6 percent of the runs the Royals scored in the decade, and nearly 100 more runs than the next closest player.
Brett remains the iconic hitter in Royals history. His Baseball Hall of Fame status reflects that, and Brett is atop virtually every career batting record in Royals history. Wilson ranks in the top 10 of virtually every batting category the Royals keep – save home runs – and is in the top five in most categories.
Twice during the 1980s Wilson was selected as the Royals Player of the year – 1981 and 1984. Ironically, both seasons came after epic failures. The 1981 award followed the dubious record of 12 strikeouts in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1984, Wilson was coming off a winter in jail following a three-month prison sentence for his part in the drug scandal that rocked the Royals through the latter half of the 1983 season. He missed the first 45 days of the season and still played in more games than all but two other Royals.
He played in two All-Star games, won a Gold Glove and with his speed made catches in center field that other outfielders waved at.
Baseball is the reason people know about Willie Wilson, but the events in his life away from baseball and how he dealt with them are the things that make his story interesting.
—Kent Pulliam
WILSON’S SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS
CATEGORY |
NO. |
YEAR |
Most stolen bases |
83 |
1979 |
Most at bats |
705 |
1980 |
Most plate appearances |
745 |
1980 |
Most hits |
230 |
1980 |
Most hits by switch hitter |
230 |
1980 |
Most singles |
184 |
1980 |
Most multi-hit games |
71 |
1980 |
Most triples |
21 |
1985 |
WILSON’S ROYALS CAREER RANKING
CATEGORY |
RANK |
NUMBER |
Games played |
No. 5 |
1,787 |
At bats |
No. 4 |
6,799 |
Runs scored |
No. 3 |
1,060 |
Career hits |
No. 4 |
1,968 |
Career doubles |
No. 6 |
241 |
Career triples |
No. 2 |
133 |
Runs-batted-in |
No. 9 |
509 |
Batting average |
No. 9 |
.289 |
Walks |
No. 9 |
360 |
Strikeouts |
No. 2 |
990 |
Hit by pitch |
No. 5 |
54 |
Stolen bases |
No. 1 |
612 |
Total bases |
No. 5 |
2,595 |
Extra-base hits |
No. 6 |
414 |
Inside-the-park home runs |
No. 1 |
13 |
CATEGORIES/YEARS IN WHICH WILSON LEAD THE LEAGUE
CATEGORY |
YEAR |
NUMBER |
Batting average |
1982 |
.332 |
At Bats |
1980 |
705 |
Plate appearances |
1980 |
745 |
Runs |
1980 |
133 |
Hits |
1980 |
230 |
Triples |
1980 |
15 |
|
1982 |
15 |
|
1985 |
21 |
|
1987 |
15 |
|
1988 |
11 |
Stolen bases |
1979 |
83 |
HIT |
DATE |
OPPONENT |
1 |
September 10, 1976 |
At Minnesota |
500 |
May 16, 1981 |
At Boston |
1,000 |
June 24, 1994 |
Vs. Oakland |
1,500 |
May 30, 1987 |
Vs. Texas |
2,000 |
June 20, 1991 |
At Boston* |
2,207 |
April 23, 1994 |
At Colorado ** |
* With Oakland Athletics; ** With Chicago Cubs