Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson was an American Major League Baseball player who played 12 seasons for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.
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24 Facts About Hack Wilson
3.
Lewis Robert Hack Wilson was born April 26,1900, in the Pennsylvania steel mill town of Ellwood City, north of Pittsburgh.
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4.
Hack Wilson's mother, Jennie Kaughn, 16, was an unemployed drifter from Philadelphia; his father, Robert Wilson, 24, was a steel worker.
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5.
In 1916, Hack Wilson left school to take a job at a locomotive factory, swinging a sledge hammer for four dollars a week.
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6.
In 1921, Hack Wilson moved to Martinsburg, West Virginia, to join the Martinsburg Mountaineers of the Class "D" Blue Ridge League.
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7.
Hack Wilson made his major league debut with the Giants on September 29,1923, at the age of 23, and became the starting left fielder the following season.
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8.
Early in the 1925 season, Hack Wilson hit the longest home run on record at Ebbets Field against the Brooklyn Robins, but fell into a slump in May, and was replaced in left field by Irish Meusel.
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9.
Hack Wilson regained his form as the Cubs' center fielder in 1926, and he quickly became a favorite of Chicago fans.
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10.
The Cubs improved to fourth place, and Hack Wilson ended the year ranked fifth in voting for the NL's Most Valuable Player Award.
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11.
Hack Wilson had a combative streak and sometimes initiated fights with opposing players and fans.
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12.
On June 22,1928, a near-riot broke out in the ninth inning at Wrigley Field against the St Louis Cardinals when Hack Wilson jumped into the box seats to attack a heckling fan.
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13.
Later that evening at the train station, Hack Wilson exchanged words and blows with Cincinnati player Pete Donohue.
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14.
Hack Wilson finished the season with 190 RBIs, along with a then-NL-record 56 home runs,.
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15.
Hack Wilson was unofficially voted the NL's most "useful" player by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
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16.
Reds catcher Clyde Sukeforth asserted that Hack Wilson should have been credited with an additional home run in 1930 as well.
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17.
Hack Wilson complained that the new Cubs manager, Hornsby, did not allow him to "swing away" as much as Joe McCarthy had.
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18.
Hack Wilson began 1933 with a ninth-inning game-winning pinch-hit inside-the-park grand slam home run at Ebbets Field — the first pinch-hit grand slam in Dodger history, and only the third inside-the-park pinch-hit grand slam in MLB history.
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19.
Hack Wilson hit 244 home runs and batted in 1,063 runs, led the NL in home runs four times, and surpassed 100 RBIs six times.
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20.
Hack Wilson returned to Martinsburg where he opened a pool hall, but encountered financial problems due to a failed sporting goods business venture, and then a rancorous divorce from Virginia.
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21.
On October 4,1948, Hack Wilson was discovered unconscious after a fall in his home.
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22.
Hack Wilson was buried in Rosedale Cemetery in the town where he made his professional playing debut, Martinsburg, West Virginia.
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24.
In 1979, Hack Wilson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
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