The major league baseball player Mookie Wilson was born William Hayward
Wilson on February 9, 1956 in Bamberg, South Carolina. The
switch-hitter attended the University of South Carolina and was drafted
by the New York Metpolitan Baseball Club ("Mets") in the 2nd round of
the 1977 amateur draft. Att 5' 10" and 170 lbs., Mookie didn't have
power, but he did have speed.
He made his debut with the Mets on September 2, 1980 for the first of
10 seasons, before finishing his career up with the Toronto Blue Jays
for the remainder of the 1989 season and for the 1990 and '91 seasons.
In his 13 seasons in the Major Leagues, he hit .274 with 67 home runs,
438 RBI, and 327 stolen bases in 1403 games. A favorite with Mets fans,
who would chant "Moooo-kie" for their hero, the up-beat Wilson was a
positive force on the field and in the club-house, bringing a certain
something to his teams that could not be measured in numbers alone.
After arm surgery in 1985, Wilson became a utility player due to his
low on-base percentage. In 1989, he was traded to the Blue Jays, where
he helped his new club win a division title that year.
Mookie earned baseball immortality in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
The Boston Red Sox were one out away from winning the game and the
World Series when Wilson came to bat against BoSox pitcher Bob Stanley
in the bottom of the 10th inning at Shea Staidum with two out and two
men on. Wilson battled Stanley until he threw a pitch in the dirt near
Wilson's feet forcing Mookie to jump over the ball to avoid being hit
by the pitch. Stanley's wild pitch enabled Kevin Mitchell to score from
third base with the tying run, with Ray Knight advancing from first to
second base. Two pitches later, Wilson hit a slow roller toward Red Sox
first baseman Bill Buckner, who allowed it to roll through his legs, a
misplay that gave Knight the chance to score from second base, winning
the game.
This bottom of the 10th inning of the Sixth game, with two out drama
was the most unexpected comeback in a single game in the history of the
Fall Classic. The scoreboards at Shea Stadium has already flashed a
concession naming the Red Sox World's Champs, such was what seemed the
inevitability of their victory. Mookie and Bob Stanley's bad pitching
and Bill Buckner's hideous fielding, an unbelievable misplay on an
easy, routine ground ball to first changed all that. The disheartened
Red Sox went down in Game Seven, making Mookie's 1986 Mets -- a team
that had won an astounding 108 games in the regular season -- the
World's Champs. The Game Six debacle was seen as proof that the Red Sox
indeed were hexed (until they finally broke the "Curse of the Bambino"
in 2004).
Mookie Wilson was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame and
currently (2005) is the manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a New York
Mets farm team.
