Glenn Wilson (baseball)

Glenn Dwight Wilson (born December 22, 1958 in Baytown, Texas) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball, between 1982 and 1993, for the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Houston Astros. He was primarily used as a right fielder.

Wilson was selected in the 1st round (18th pick) of the 1980 amateur draft by the Tigers, and made his major league debut for them on April 15, 1982. He played two seasons for the Tigers, and then was traded on March 24, 1984 along with John Wockenfuss to the Philadelphia Phillies for Willie Hernández and Dave Bergman.

Wilson was best known for his tremendous throwing arm, and led all National League outfielders for assists in 1985 and 1986, throwing out 18 and 20 base-runners from right field, respectively. In 1987, Wilson twice threw out base runners who attempted to reach first base after apparent singles into right field.^[1] His most successful season as a batter was in 1985, when he drove in 102 runs, and recorded 167 base hits with 14 home runs in 608 at bats for a .275 batting average. He was selected as a National League All-Star in 1985. On August 5, 1987 he pitched in the bottom on the 8th inning in a game against the New York Mets when the Phillies ran out of relief pitchers and manager Lee Elia put him on the mound. In the only pitching appearance of his career, he struck out Howard Johnson.^[2]

On September 15, 1988, Wilson hit two home runs off Randy Johnson, the first two homers ever surrendered by Johnson. At the start of the following season (1989), Wilson again tagged Johnson for a homer. Of the first five home runs ever given up by Johnson, three came off the bat of Glenn Wilson.^[3]

Wilson's nickname was Glennbo, a reference to Rambo.^{[citation needed]} Wilson also appeared in a Phillies promotional ad dressed as Rambo.

Wilson owned and operated a gas station in Conroe, Texas.^[4] He was once famously told that he needed to improve his mechanics (meaning baseball skills) and replied by saying, "Why, I just gave all mechanics a raise."^{[citation needed]}

Glenn released his autobiography co-written with Darrell Halk entitled "Headed Home" in 2012. http://www.amazon.com/Headed-Home-Glenn-Wilson/dp/1935909312/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388639772&sr=8-2&keywords=glenn+wilson

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)