Enrique Wilson Martes (born July 27, 1973) is a Dominican former

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. In his eight-season

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), ...

career, Wilson played with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

(1997–2000),

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(2000–01),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

(2001–04), and the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

(2005) as a

utility infielder In baseball, a utility player is a player who typically does not have the offensive abilities to justify a regular starting role on the team but is capable of playing more than one defensive position. These players are able to give the various st ...

. He batted

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

and threw right-handed. Wilson was a career .244 hitter with 22

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, with three grand slams, and 141 RBI in 555 games. Versatile around the diamond, Wilson had a rather mobile career playing (mostly as a backup) at second base,

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

. Wilson was known to play hitters well and with a strong arm, had some pop in his bat, and would run occasionally, but did not to try to steal very often. In 2001, he was scheduled to be on

American Airlines Flight 587 American Airlines Flight 587 was a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. On November 12, 200 ...

that crashed in a New York City neighborhood. However, when the Yankees lost the

2001 World Series The 2001 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2001 season. The 97th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Arizona Diamondbacks and the three-t ...

to the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

, Wilson flew home a few days earlier and was not on the flight.Olney, Buster.
Epilogue: 'The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty'
" ''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

''. May 2, 2005. Retrieved on October 12, 2009. In 2003, Wilson was involved in an incident where

Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, L ...

missed a game claiming to have a sore throat, but was later found to actually have been partying in a hotel room with Wilson. At the time, Wilson played for the rival

. During Wilson's time with the Yankees, he was often placed in the lineup over superior players when the team faced

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

ace

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

. This was due to his inexplicable ability to hit Martinez well over his career. In 35 at bats including the postseason, Wilson batted .364 vs Martinez. Wilson was signed by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

to a minor-league contract before the 2005 season. He was released in May, and subsequently signed with the Cubs. After appearing in fifteen games with the Cubs, he was released a second time. In 2006, Wilson played for the Boston Red Sox's Triple-A team, the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

, and retired in August.

Notes

Sources

*''The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia'' – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English.

External links

Enrique Wilson
- Baseballbiography.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Enrique 1973 births Baseball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Canton-Akron Indians players Chicago Cubs players Cleveland Indians players Columbus RedStixx players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Elizabethton Twins players Gulf Coast Twins players Kinston Indians players Living people Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Nashville Sounds players New York Yankees players Ottawa Lynx players Pawtucket Red Sox players Pittsburgh Pirates players Pan American Games competitors for the Dominican Republic