Who is the man: Don Wilson was coming off a bit of a rocky season when this card arrived. A bout with tendinitis in his elbow at the start of the year put him on the disabled list. After striking out 235 batters in 225 innings in 1969, he managed just 94 in 184 innings in 1970.
Can ya dig it: Wilson appears to be unfazed by the photographer taking his picture.
Right on: I just mentioned on the 1985 blog that I so love the old Astros Astrodome logo.
You see that cat Wilson is a bad mother: Wilson had thrown two no-hitters by the time he was 23 years old.
Shut your mouth: Wilson told reporters after his second no-hitter, against the Reds, that he received extra motivation during the game from Reds manager Dave Bristol taunting him from the dugout, calling him "gutless."
No one understands him but his woman: There is much speculation about Wilson's premature death and whether it was a suicide or not. In January 1975, he was found in his car in the garage of their home with the motor running, and his death, caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, was ruled accidental. Wilson's wife, Bernice, found Wilson unresponsive in the car. Police reported that she had an injured jaw, and her stories about how she received the injury changed, although she was sedated during most of her statements, having also suffered effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. She later quit cooperating with authorities and there is speculation that a domestic dispute between the two happened before the discovery of Wilson's body.
(A word about the back): Wilson's club record for strikeouts was broken by J.R. Richard nine years later when he struck out 303 batters. Richard then broke his own record with 313 whiffs in 1979.
Hank Aaron once said Wilson was the toughest pitcher he had to face.
ReplyDelete