By Joe Starkey
Wilson hugs Freddy Sanchez after Wilson scored on a Sanchez hit in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat the Reds on May 30th.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Friday, June 3, 2005
Before his two-year, $8 million contract expires, Jack Wilson will convince the Pirates it was money well-spent.
Or he'll die trying.
Wilson extended his consecutive-hits streak to seven on Thursday before lining out in the fifth inning of a 6-3 loss to Florida. He was robbed of a hit in the seventh, lined out in the ninth and finished 1 for 4. Still, his average has risen 35 points this week, to .234.
Of course, one good spell doesn't kill a slump, just as one bad spell doesn't expunge a track record. Wilson was the best shortstop in the National League last season and the first Pirates shortstop since Honus Wagner in 1908 to record 200 hits. His numbers improved each of his first four seasons, complementing sensational defense.
And he had a pretty good excuse for the rocky start.
Emergency surgery and eight percent of one's body weight two months before spring training beats the dog ate my batting donut, doesn't it?
Wilson's appendectomy sapped his strength and his spirit -- a commodity he has delivered to his comatose franchise in megadoses since 2001.
Some people want to see Wilson exercise more patience. Are they kidding? Haven't we heard enough about patience for the past 12 years?
Give me the guy who swings at everything (it got Manny Sanguillen his own barbecue stand).
Give me the guy who tries to stretch a double into a triple against all reason (or who scores from first on a single, as Wilson did Wednesday).
Give me the guy who tries to make the impossible play every time.
You can have the guy who bolts before the patient dies. I'll take the one who's still administering CPR four hours after the heart stops.
That's Jack Wilson.
So maybe it was only right that when Wilson's spirit sagged this season, an angel landed next to him on the infield dirt.
That would be newly anointed third baseman Freddy Sanchez, who met Wilson 15 years ago on a California summer league all-star team. Sanchez played shortstop; Wilson was relegated to second base.
"I've been holding that over his head ever since," Sanchez said.
The two, born eight days apart in 1977, roomed together and developed a strong bond. They lived 35 miles apart and stayed in touch thereafter. When the Pirates recalled Sanchez last season, he moved in with the Wilson family.
It's probably not a coincidence, then, that Wilson began to hit about the time manager Lloyd McClendon put Sanchez at third.
"Freddy has rubbed off on Jack quite a bit," said McClendon, who raised the subject unsolicited. "Here comes this little sparkplug, talking and bouncing all over the place. I think it kind of reminded Jack of how much fun he can really have."
Wilson agreed.
"We've got that special bond," he said. "I mean, I look over, and there's Freddy. We're in the big leagues together. ... I keep telling him he stinks. He keeps telling me I stink."
Actually, Sanchez keeps telling Wilson to think positive and hit the weights. To compensate for the lost strength, Wilson has doubled his visits to the weight room.
"I won't let him not be in there," Sanchez said.
After a victory Wednesday, Sanchez nodded toward Wilson, who went 4-for-4, and said, "He's back!"
It's beginning to look that way. And if the Pirates are smart, they won't let Wilson go anywhere for a long, long time. Not even to clear the way for Freddy Sanchez to play shortstop.
Joe Starkey is a sports writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He can be reached at jstarkey@tribweb.com
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