William G. Wilson (October 28, 1867 – May 9, 1924) was a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player. He played all or part of three seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

, primarily as a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. He played for the 1890

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s-1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal ...

and 1897–98

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

Personal life

After retiring from baseball, Wilson became involved in petty crime, eventually being charged in 1909 with forging postal money orders. On May 9, 1924, Wilson's bloodied body was found in a

St Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

ice-cream parlour by police after an anonymous phone call. He had been stabbed ten times. Police believed that Wilson had been murdered over a dispute regarding the distribution of illegal moneys from a crime.

References

Sources

1867 births 1924 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Louisville Colonels players St. Paul Saints (Western League) players Kansas City Blue Stockings players Peoria Distillers players Galesburg Hornets players Baseball players from Missouri 19th-century baseball players People from Hannibal, Missouri American murder victims People murdered in Minnesota Deaths by stabbing in the United States American sportspeople convicted of crimes People convicted of forgery {{US-baseball-catcher-1860s-stub