Nigel Edward Wilson (born January 12, 1970) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former

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), ...

player from Oshawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. He played for the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

, Cincinnati Reds, and

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 Fi ...

. He also spent six highly successful seasons in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

with the

Nippon Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a s ...

and

Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stadiu ...

. He now owns a sports training facility in Ajax, Ontario.

Career

Wilson signed with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in 1988 as an amateur free agent and was promoted as high as Double-A in the Toronto organization. Wilson was then drafted by the

in the

1992 MLB Expansion Draft On November 17, 1992, during the 1992–93 offseason, Major League Baseball (MLB) held an expansion draft in New York City to allow two expansion teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies, to build their rosters prior to debuting in the Nat ...

as their first pick (second overall, behind David Nied by the Colorado Rockies). Wilson played a total of 22 major league games with the Marlins (1993), Cincinnati Reds (1995), and

(1996), failing to get a hit as either a Marlin or a Red, going 0-for-23 in his time with these teams, with 15 strikeouts and no walks or HBPs. After an 0-for-2 start with the Indians (with 1 strikeout), Wilson recorded his first major league hit in his 26th at bat. His major league career ended shortly thereafter; Wilson retired with 3 MLB hits in total. In 1997, he joined the

of the Japanese

Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently cons ...

after being released from the Indians. On June 21, 1997, he hit home runs in 4 consecutive at bats, becoming only the second player in Japanese baseball history to ever attain this mark after

Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh (Japanese: , ''Ō Sadaharu''; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (), is a Japanese-born former baseball player and manager Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Ō Sadaharu"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 758. who ...

, ending that season with a league-leading 37 home runs. In 1998, he greatly improved his clutch hitting, leading the league with 33 home runs and 128 RBIs to win the

Best Nine Award The Best Nine Award is awarded annually to the best player at each position in both the Central League and Pacific League of Japanese professional baseball as determined by a pool of journalists. History While the Best Nine Award was first present ...

for

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

. In 1999, he played only 6 games due to a knee injury, but the team decided not to release him at the end of the season. The team's decision proved to be correct, as Wilson rebounded in 2000, hitting 37 home runs with 89 RBIs to win his second Best Nine Award. Wilson sustained another injury in 2001, and left the team after playing only 34 games that year then was picked up by the

the following year, but could not repeat his earlier success. He left Japan at the end of 2002, and signed a minor league contract with the

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

organization, but did not make it into a major league roster. Wilson is remembered as one of the best non-Japanese players ever to play for the Nippon Ham Fighters, along with

Tony Solaita Tolia "Tony" Solaita (January 15, 1947 – February 10, 1990) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, California Angels, Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos between 1968 and ...

and

Sherman Obando Sherman Omar Obando Gainor (born January 23, 1970) is a former major league baseball player who played for the Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos. His main position was outfield, but often played as a first baseman or designated hitter. He is ...

Personal

Wilson's father was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

player from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. Wilson resides in Ajax, Ontario with his wife, Natalie Wilson and their three children, Morgan, Paris and Quinton. He also has an older daughter,

LaToya Forever LaToya Howard, better known under the name LaToya Forever, is a Canadian YouTube personality and author, best known for her eponymous YouTube channel as well as her video blog channel "LaToya's Life". In 2012, she was the official Vibe TV host a ...

, a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

personality who and cast member of

The Real Housewives of Atlanta ''The Real Housewives of Atlanta'' (abbreviated ''RHOA'') is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on October 7, 2008. Developed as the third installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired fourteen seaso ...

. Wilson has owned and run the Competitive Edge sports training facility in Ajax since 2008. Wilson has coached many successful college players.

References

External links

* , o
Retrosheet
o
Baseball Reference (Minor and Japanese Leagues)Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Nigel 1970 births Living people Baseball people from Ontario Black Canadian baseball players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Canadian expatriate baseball players in Japan Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Canadian sportspeople of Trinidad and Tobago descent Cardenales de Lara players Caribes de Oriente players Canadian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians players Dunedin Blue Jays players Edmonton Trappers players Florida Marlins players Indianapolis Indians players Knoxville Blue Jays players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Canada Myrtle Beach Blue Jays players Nippon Ham Fighters players Nippon Professional Baseball designated hitters Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes players Sportspeople from Oshawa St. Catharines Blue Jays players