Bob Wilson
From BR Bullpen
Robert Wilson
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 197 lb.
- Debut May 17, 1958
- Final Game May 18, 1958
- Born February 22, 1925 in Dallas, TX USA
- Died April 23, 1985 in Dallas, TX USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Outfielder Bob Wilson was recommended to the Brooklyn Dodgers by Jackie Robinson, from their years in the Negro leagues together. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers before the 1950 season. Wilson spent his first two years in pro ball with the class A Elmira Pioneers of the Eastern League, hitting .299 in 65 games in 1950 and .313 with eight homers in 1951.
Bob was a .300-plus hitter for several seasons in the 1950s - with the St. Paul Saints of the American Association in 1952, where he hit at a .334 clip and hammered 13 home runs and again with the St. Paul team in 1958, he carried a .349 average. In between these years, he had three other seasons in which he bettered the .300 mark.
Wilson, who had been battling Carl Furillo for the right field slot for the past few seasons in spring training, earned one brief chance with the Dodgers, in their first year in Los Angeles in 1958, picking up one base hit in five at-bats in three games. This would be the sum total of his major league career.
Bob would spend 1959 with Toronto and Montreal, where he hit .325 with 17 home runs, but the now 35 year old would choose to wind up his eleven year minor league run in 1960 with a career .311 average and 100 home runs while playing in 1,358 games. Wilson had also spent the 1952-53 season in the Cuban Winter League.
Wilson was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 1960 expansion draft but announced his retirement following the draft.
Wilson died April 23, 1985, at age 60 in his native Dallas, TX, where he was employed as a custodian and caretaker at a swimming center.
