Craig Allan Wilson (born November 30, 1976) is a former professional baseball player. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball, most often as a right fielder or first baseman. He bats and throws right-handed.

Major league career

After three years as a role player and pinch-hitter, Wilson played regularly in 2004, hitting .264 with 29 home runs and 82

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

in 155 games, but posted a franchise-record 169

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s (surpassing Donn Clendenon's 163 in 1968) in 561

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. He led the major leagues at being

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

es in 2002 (21) and 2004 (30). Wilson tied the major league single-season record for pinch-hit home runs with seven in 2001. In 2005, Wilson played in only 59 games as a result of two separate hand injuries that caused him to spend over half the season on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

, playing in only five games between May 6 and August 28. He ended the season with a .264 batting average, 5 home runs, and 22 RBI in 197 at bats. At the trade deadline of the 2006 season, Wilson was traded to the New York Yankees for Shawn Chacón. According to the New York Post, at least one general manager in the National League found the deal inexplicable from the Pirates' standpoint. Voicing the opinion that Pirates GM

Dave Littlefield David Michael Littlefield (born June 16, 1960) is a former Major League Baseball executive, who is currently a scout for the Detroit Tigers. Previously, Littlefield was employed as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pira ...

had undersold Wilson, the anonymous GM was quoted as saying, "We really thought Wilson was a guy a lot of AL teams would be interested in. He is a high strikeout guy, but he can hit a fastball, damage lefty pitching, and not embarrass himself in right field or at first." Overall in 2006, Craig batted .251 with 17 home runs and 49 RBI. Though he only batted 359 times, he struck out 122 times. The Yankees did not re-sign him, causing him to become a free agent. The Atlanta Braves signed Wilson to a one-year contract worth $2 million USD on January 18, 2007. After 40 games of the 2007 season with the Braves, Wilson was granted his unconditional release on May 17, 2007, to make room for

Brayan Peña Brayan Eduardo Peña (born January 7, 1982) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball catcher. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis ...

on the roster. On May 28, 2007, he signed a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox, but ended up undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in June. Wilson was released by the White Sox at the end of the 2007 season. On February 9, 2008, Wilson signed a minor league contract with an invitation to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, but was released on February 21 after failing a physical. On April 8, 2008, he signed a minor league deal to return to the Pittsburgh Pirates. On July 10, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later.Craig Wilson traded to Mariners 2008-07-15
", Fox Sports, FoxSports.com, published July 15, 2008, accessed November 5, 2012. After finishing the season with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, he became a free agent, ending his professional playing career.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Craig Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Pittsburgh Pirates players New York Yankees players Atlanta Braves players Medicine Hat Blue Jays players Hagerstown Suns players Lynchburg Hillcats players Carolina Mudcats players Altoona Curve players Nashville Sounds players Indianapolis Indians players Charlotte Knights players Tacoma Rainiers players Baseball players from California People from Fountain Valley, California 1976 births Living people