Hack Wilson

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Hack WilsonHack Wilson

April 26

The birthday of Cubs great and Hall of Famer, Hack Wilson (1926-1931).  Hack Wilson hit 56 home runs with 191 RBI (still an MLB record) in 1930.  He led the NL in home runs in 4 of his 6 seasons with the Cubs.  He led the NL in RBI twice. 

Born:  April 26, 1900

Died:  November 23, 1948

Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979 by the Veterans Committee

Led the NL in Home runs 4 times (1926-21), (1927-30), (1928-31)

Led the NL in RBI's twice (1929-159), (1930-191)

NL/MLB RBI record of 191 for one season (1930) still stands (as of end of 2018 season).  

December 9, 1931

Hack Wilson traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.  

June 9, 1932

Hack Wilson as a member of the Dodgers, hits a grand slam to defeat the Cubs and Pat Malone (a good friend of Wilson's) 5-2. 


Yesterday's Cubs-Today's Metrics-Hack Wilson

Is Hack Wilson better than Sammy Sosa or Billy Williams?  Looking at the advanced metrics and considering how much fewer games he played than either one of them, I would say Wilson has a claim on best Cubs OF of all-time.  His 153 WRC+ is much better than Sosa, Williams, and Bill Nicholson. 

Name                           PA      HR           R     RBI    SB    AVG    OBP   SLG   WRC+ WAR
Sammy Sosa         7898   545  1245  1414 181  .284    .358    .569    134     60.7
Billy Williams      9504   392  1306  1353   86   .296    .364    .503    134     58.9
Bill Nicholson      5614   205    738     833    26   .272   .368     .471    135     37.8
Hack Wilson        3719   190    652      769   34   .322   .412      .590   153     33.9
Phil Cavarretta  7509     92     968      896    61   .292  .371     .416    119     33.7

Hack Wilson had 3 seasons that rank in the top for Cubs OF'ers since 1906.  Sosa did have 2 seasons in the top ten.  Billy Williams only made the top ten once, but if you take a look at the top 20, Williams has 4 seasons.  Wilson and Sosa both have 4.

The list does include Kris Bryant's 2016 season since he played enough games at OF to appear on Fangraphs list of outfielders. 

Season Name                        PA   HR     R   RBI   SB   AVG OBP     SLG WRC+ WAR
2001     Sammy Sosa       711   64 146 160      0   .328  .437    .737    186      9.9
1930     Hack Wilson       709   56 146 191     3   .356  .454    .723    171      8.0
2016     Kris Bryant          699   39 121 102     8   .292  .385    .554    148      7.9
1943    Bill Nicholson      684   29   95 128     4   .309   .386    .531   164       7.2
1998    Sammy Sosa        722    66 134 158  18  .308   .377    .647   159      7.1
1965    Billy Williams     719    34 115 108  10   .315   .377    .552  155      7.1
1930    Kiki Cuyler           741   13 155 134   37   .355   .428    .547  134      7.0
2007    Alfonso Soriano 617   33   97   70   19    .299   .337    .560   122     6.7
1927    Hack Wilson        646   30 119 129  13   .318   .401    .579   159     6.6
1929    Hack Wilson        670   39 135 159    3    .345   .425    .618   152     6.6



This Day in Chicago Cubs History-Hack Wilson

June 23, 1930
Hack Wilson hits for the Cycle and drives in 6 runs as Cubs beat the Phillies 21-8 at Wrigley Field.

August 10, 1930
Cubs sweep a doubleheader over the Boston Braves at Wrigley Field.  In game 1, Hack Wilson homers 3 times and Charlie Root pitches a 3-hitter and in game 2, Pat Malone pitches a 5-hitter in an 11-1 Cubs win. 

August 26, 1930
Hack Wilson sets NL record for HR's (at the time) with his 44th HR of the season

September 27, 1930
Hack Wilson hits 2 home runs (55th and 56th of the season) and Pat
Malone wins his 20th game of the season as the Cubs defeat the Reds
13-8 at Wrigley Field. 

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