Absolute zero is the coldest temperature theoretically possible, but this temperature cannot possibly be reached by any means because no matter how insulated the system, no matter how remote the nebula, nothing can be completely detached from the entropy of the universe. This is oddly comforting and is also the reason that even the Pittsburgh Pirates can have an all-decade team, even without a winning season. You can find the other entries in this series here.
For better or for worse, Jack Wilson became the face of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005 the second that Jason Kendall packed his bags for Oakland. As reader Jeff (aka ExileinDC in the comments) pointed out to me in an e-mail, during his almost nine year Pirate career, Jack Wilson played more games as the Pirates’ starting shortstop than everyone but three players; Honus Wagner, Arky Vaughn, and Dick Groat. To be exact, Wilson pulled on a Pirate uniform and trotted out to shortostop 1,128 times in his career. More about those 1,100+ games after the jump.
I won’t lie. Jack Wilson was never my favorite Pirate. I always thought he came off as a little sanctimonious off the field and the way the previous front office treated him like he was a franchise building block because he was so popular with the fans always rubbed me the wrong way. His response to the 2007 walkout about the “real fans” that stayed and watched the game irked me beyond belief.
That said, I know there aren’t many people that can play shorstop like Jack Wilson when he’s at his best. My dad used to say that every time he went to PNC, he expected one spectacular play out of Wilson and that he’d almost always get it. His great range allowed him to get to balls that most shortstops could only dream of stopping, and his cannon arm allowed him to actually throw the runners out. He could turn amazing double plays with Freddy Sanchez on balls hit straight up the middle. He ran down pop-ups, mowed down unsuspecting runners slow to get back to bases, he did everything.
The last part was what always impressed me more than anything. He did everything. When he’d take a cut-off throw from the outfield in a situation with no immediately obvious play the ball would be out of the glove and in his throwing hand while he stared down the base runners, just daring them to take their eyes off of him for even a second. He backed every throw up, made sure of every tag, and zipped throws to any base he thought he had a chance for an extra out no matter how slim the chance was. These are all things that announcers say about Derek Jeter that drive opposing fans up the wall, but they’re all true about Wilson. He just never took a play off.
Maybe it’s because his gems in the field are innumerable, but the definitive Jack Wilson moment for me isn’t a fielding play at all. Instead, this memory is from the base paths. From June 29th, 2004. In the bottom of the ninth of a 1-1 game, he lined a double into left center field. The throw came in and I can’t remember why this happened, but the ball ended up behind Wilson around second base without a fielder there to secure it. It was the exact sort of thing Wilson wouldn’t have let happen to him if he were in the field. Ever alert, he sprinted for third base even as Albert Pujols, who was backing up second from first base, approached the ball.
Watching at home, I remember practically covering my eyes as Pujols picked up the ball. Jack was going to be thrown out at third. I was sure of it. I was already livid at him for wasting a great scoring opportunity by trying to make his hit into something it wasn’t. But as Pujols reached the ball, he had to make a quick throw to get Wilson at third and I don’t think there was any way he could’ve seen Scott Rolen because Wilson had beelined straight to third and screened his view. Pujols’ threw went over Rolen’s head and into the stands. Wilson trotted home as the winning run while his teammates poured out of the dugout to celebrate the win.
For me, that’s Jack Wilson in a nutshell; playing so hard that it’s borderline reckless. He may not have been my favorite Pirate but he was always proud to be a Pirate, even when it wasn’t easy.
Honorable mention: No one. Pat Meares started at short before him in 2000 and Ronny Cedeno took over when he got traded in 2009.
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