John Wilson
- This article is about the baseball player, for others with similar names, see John Wilson (disambiguation).
John Samuel Wilson (born April 25, 1903 in Coal City; died August 27, 1980 in Chattanooga, Tennessee) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1927 through 1928 for the Boston Red Sox. He was also a Birmingham Baron in 1935.
Listed at 6' 2", 164 lb., Wilson batted and threw right-handed. In a two-season career, Wilson posted a 0-2 record with nine strikeouts and a 4.45 ERA in seven appearances, including two starts, two complete games, and 30⅓ innings of work.
Wilson was 24 years old when he broke into the big leagues on May 9, 1927, with the Boston Red Sox. He was sent down to Pittsfield - Waterbury in the Eastern League but came back to Boston the next Spring, where he played his final MLB game on April 24, 1928 at age 24.
He returned to the minors with Pittsfield in the Eastern League (1928-1929); the Buffalo Bisons of the International League (IL) (1930-1935), except for 1933 when he spent part of the year with Jersey City; Ft. Worth in the Texas League (1935); the Birmingham Barons of the Southern Association (SA) (1935); Buffalo (1936-1937); the Toronto Maple Leafs (IL) (1937-1938); the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association (AA) (1939-1940); Atlanta - Montgomery (SA) (1943); the Chattanooga Lookouts (SA) (1944-1945); and Wilson in the Coastal Plain League (1946); ending his baseball career at age 43.
In 1928, his best year in the minors, he was (16-10) with an ERA of 3.12. Overall in MLB, he was (0-2) with 4 games finished, 2 complete games in 2 games started, 9 strikeouts, 19 walks and 0 shutouts in 30⅓ innings pitched with an ERA of 4.45 and a WHIP of 1.846 in 7 games. Overall in the minors, he was (141-140).
Wilson was a Private, First Class in the U.S. Army during World War II.