Craig Wilson (wilsocr02)

Craig Franklin Wilson

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• School Kansas State University
• High School East Leyden High School
• Debut September 5, 1998
• Final Game October 1, 2000
• Born September 3, 1970 in Chicago, IL USA

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Biographical Information

Craig Wilson was a major league infielder who played with the Chicago White Sox from 1998 to 2000, including their division-winning team in 2000, and has also had a minor league career from 1993 to 2004.

He was born in Chicago and went to Kansas State University. He is the only major leaguer since 1980 to come from Kansas State.

Wilson competed for the United States at the 1991 Pan-American Games and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He hit .414/~.452/.517 in the round-robin phase of the 1991 Pan-Am Games, posting the best average on Team USA.

He was chosen by the San Francisco Giants in the 23rd round of the 1991 amateur draft, but instead chose to go with the White Sox when they picked him in the 13th round of the 1992 draft. He spent six years in the White Sox minor league organization from 1993 to 1998, usually hitting not too far from .270 without much power. A peak came in 1998, when he hit .306/~.364/.456 with the Triple A Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League. Up briefly for 13 games with the White Sox in 1998, he impressed greatly by hitting .468/.490/.766, in 47 at-bats, one of the best cups of coffee ever (see "Record" below). It got him the chance to be with the Sox for all of 1999, and he hit .239 in 252 at-bats.

The next year, 2000, he was mostly tearing up the minors, hitting .370/.448/.487 with the Charlotte Knights in the Triple A International League, but he also had 26 games up with the Sox, hitting .260. It was his last major league year.

2001 to 2003 involved him playing in Triple A for the organizations of the Kansas City Royals, the Detroit Tigers, and the New York Yankees. Each time he hit decently, but under .300. In 2004, he was in Double A with the Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League, hitting .306.

Most of his major league games were at third base, although he also played some games at shortstop, along with fewer at second base, and only one at first base.

Record

The all-time record for batting average in one season is .440 by Hugh Duffy, who was 237 for 539 for the 1894 Boston Beaneaters. Wilson holds the record for the most hits in a season by a player hitting better than .440: he was 22 for 47 (.468) in 1998.