Bill Wilson (pitcher)

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Bill Wilson

|image=Bill Wilson (pitcher).jpg

|position=Pitcher

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date=September 21, 1942

|birth_place=Pomeroy, Ohio, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1993|8|11|1942|9|21}}

|death_place=Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 8

|debutyear=1969

|debutteam=Philadelphia Phillies

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 26

|finalyear=1973

|finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=9–15

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=4.22

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=171

|teams=

Philadelphia Phillies ({{By|1969}}–{{By|1973}})

}}

William Harlan Wilson (September 19, 1942 – August 11, 1993) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in 179 games over all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies from {{mlby|1969}} to {{mlby|1973}}. He was born in Pomeroy, Ohio and attended Pomeroy High School, and then attended Marshall University. A pitcher, he threw and batted right-handed, stood {{convert|6|ft|2|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|195|lb}}.

Wilson's pro career lasted for 13 years, 1962–1974, all in the Philadelphia organization. He spent seven seasons in the minor leagues before making the Phillies' roster at the outset of the {{mlby|1969}} campaign. Pitching for Phillie teams that averaged 94 losses per season over Wilson's tenure, he compiled a 9–15 won–lost record with 17 career saves and a 4.22 earned run average in the majors. In 258 total innings pitched, Wilson allowed 229 hits and 131 bases on balls, with 171 strikeouts. All of his 179 major league games came as a relief pitcher, but Wilson also played for one-third of an inning as a third baseman as part of a one-batter defensive substitution strategy by Phils' manager Frank Lucchesi during a game in August of {{mlby|1971}}.

Played third base against one batter

On August 6, 1971, against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium, Wilson entered the game in relief of Ken Reynolds in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Phils trailing, 2–1. He held the Pirates scoreless that inning and returned to the mound in the eighth after the Phillies had taken a 3–2 lead on a home run from Willie Montañez. Wilson retired future Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente on a ground ball to start the inning. But with another future Hall of Famer, left-handed swinging Willie Stargell, due up next, manager Lucchesi brought in a left-handed relief pitcher, Joe Hoerner, to face him. Instead of removing Wilson from the game, however, Lucchesi moved him to third base, where he replaced Terry Harmon. Hoerner then struck out Stargell (denying Wilson a fielding chance at the hot corner) and left the game. Wilson returned to the mound (while Bobby Pfeil came off the bench to take over at third base) and got Manny Sanguillén on another ground ball. He then capped off the memorable day by retiring the Pirates in the ninth inning to gain his third victory of the season.Retrosheet [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1971/B08060PIT1971.htm box score: 1971-08-06]{{cite web|last1=Zolecki|first1=Todd|title=Howard's ejection forces Oswalt to field|url=http://m.phillies.mlb.com/news/article/13893100/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131115/http://m.phillies.mlb.com/news/article/13893100/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 2, 2015|website=MLB.com|publisher=Major League Baseball|accessdate=March 28, 2015|date=August 25, 2010}}

Wilson died from cancer{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} in 1993 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Survivors included daughter Kim Wilson-Davis and two grandchildren, Joseph and Terry Davis, of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

References

External links

{{Baseballstats |mlb=124433 |espn= |br=w/wilsobi03 |fangraphs= |cube= |brm=wilson014wil }}

Category:1942 births

Category:1993 deaths

Category:Bakersfield Bears players

Category:Baseball players from Ohio

Category:Chattanooga Lookouts players

Category:Deaths from cancer in Oklahoma

Category:Eugene Emeralds players

Category:Major League Baseball pitchers

Category:Major League Baseball third basemen

Category:Marshall Thundering Herd baseball players

Category:People from Pomeroy, Ohio

Category:Philadelphia Phillies players

Category:Reading Phillies players

Category:San Diego Padres (minor league) players

Category:20th-century American sportsmen