A Brief History
On November 23, 1948, one of major league baseball’s greatest hitters and onetime highest paid player in the National League died penniless, and no one, not even his own son, would claim the body. Wilson played for the Giants, Cubs, Dodgers and Phillies, but his heyday was with the Cubs.
Digging Deeper
Lewis Robert “Hack” Wilson was born in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania in 1900, and went on to a short but remarkable baseball career where in 12 years he hit 244 home runs, 1063 RBI’s, and batted .307 for his career. In 1930 Wilson hit 56 home runs and knocked in a major league record (that still stands) 191 RBI’s. This fantastic year also saw Wilson post a batting average of .356 and a slugging percentage of .723. His on base percentage was .454, but unfortunately, the National League did not institute the Most Valuable Player award until 1931. Wilson’s National League record 56 home runs stood until 1998. He had led the National League in home runs 4 times and twice led the League in RBI’s.
Despite such superb performance, Wilson’s career was shadowed by heavy drinking and a penchant for getting into fights. He once initiated a riot by going into the stands after a fan, resulting in 5000 fans swarming the field. Wilson also was nabbed trying to escape from a raid on a speakeasy (during Prohibition) and admitted to playing baseball “hung over, but not drunk.”
In 1931 the National League sought to reduce hitting success by making the baseball heavier and with raised stitching to allow pitchers a better grip on the ball. Wilson came to training camp 20 pounds overweight. A fight led to a suspension on September 6, 1931, ending his season. Traded to the Cardinals after the season, Wilson was again traded to the Dodgers before the 1932 season started. That 1932 season was somewhat of a comeback year, with 23 home runs and 123 RBI’s, and in the first game of 1933 he hit an inside the park grand slam home run as a pinch hitter. The Dodgers let the once great hitter and already has-been go in the middle of 1934, and the Phillies gave him a short, unsuccessful chance that year, but also let him go. His major league career was over at age 34.
After baseball Wilson floundered financially, with one failed venture after another. Working as a bartender and singing for tips and drinks led to more verbal abuse than he could take. Ending up a common laborer for the City of Baltimore, he was given a job as manager of a city swimming pool when someone realized they had a sports celebrity on the payroll. Wilson died after complications from a fall in his own house in 1948, broke and virtually friendless. National League President Ford Frick had to send the money to bury Wilson and even Wilson’s burial suit was donated. Babe Ruth had died the same year and had a host of thousands attend his funeral, while only a few hundred attended Wilson’s funeral. In 1949 an interview with Wilson from shortly before his death was released, with Wilson cautioning young players to heed the lessons of Wilson’s failed life, that talent was not enough, good choices and common sense were also needed.
Hack Wilson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 by the Veterans Committee, an honor finally delivered decades late. Many famous sports heroes have ended up broken and penniless, with sad endings after a career of glory. Question for students (and subscribers): What other players can you think of that match these criteria? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Boone, Robert S. and Gerald Grunska. Hack: The Meteroric Life of One of Baseball’s First Superstars, Hack Wilson. Highland Press, 1978.
Chastain, Bill and Don Zimmer. Hack’s 191: Hack Wilson and His Incredible 1930 Season. Lyons Press, 2012.
Parker, Clifton Blue. Fouled Away: The Baseball Tragedy of Hack Wilson. McFarland & Company, 2000.
