Don’t hack Wilson, a true slugger

His nickname was “Hack,” and he crushed with the best of ’em.

Lewis “Hack” Wilson was born… His nickname was “Hack,” and he crushed with the best of ’em.

Lewis “Hack” Wilson was born in Ellwood City, Pa., 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. He doesn’t usually have his name tossed around in the same breath as Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, but he should.

The man could hit.

He holds the Major League record for most RBIs in a single season with 191. That record, set in 1930, has withstood the steroid-stained era of the 1990s and 2000s.

He was a little slugger with a big bat, hitting double-digit home runs eight times despite his 5-foot-6-inch stature. In that record-setting 1930 season, Wilson smacked 56 home runs, 35 doubles and six triples. He hit .356, and edged out Ruth by seven dingers to win the 1930 home run title.

Take a second and think about that.

He had a better season in 1930 than Alex Rodriguez (.314, 54 homers, 156 RBIs) this year and knocked in 54 more runs than Barry Bonds in his 73-home run 2001 season.

He did it without weight training, steroids, training tables, juiced balls or big money.

BaseballLibrary.com wrote that Wilson wore a size 18 collar and a size 6 shoe. He was a physical mystery. His huge chest allowed him to swing a quick bat.

He developed the muscles to yield a big bat by slamming a sledgehammer for a steel mill in Pittsburgh.

He was a poor kid from the Pittsburgh area and fought his way to the front page of baseball’s history book.

In “Fouled Away: The Baseball Tragedy of Hack Wilson,” author Clifton Blue Parker talks about Wilson’s incredible rise from his poor upbringing to the single-season RBIs record and his dramatic fall from grace.

Wilson had a drinking problem. He died 18 years after setting one of the toughest single-season records to break in baseball. But don’t let his way out cloud his climax.

He was a great player. He came from Pittsburgh. And you need to know who he is.

Let’s get to the rapid fire:

– Boy, oh boy, Roc, that loss to Louisville on Saturday was a real stomach punch.

– Don’t take it so personally, Shady. You are the man, and everyone knows it.

– Start sending me your basketball questions for the Pitt hoops Q and A. We can talk about the men, the women or national hoops. Even if the question isn’t about hoops, I can put it in this column. Check the end of this column for my e-mail.

– Word to the wise – and freshmen: Don’t ask a question if there are fewer than 15 minutes left of class.

It takes the professor off the topic and almost instantly forces the kids zipping up their backpacks to reconsider. Nobody, and I mean nobody, likes unzipping an already-zipped backpack. I say this from experience.

– TRIVIA: I’ll give you a hearty pat on the back, Roc, if you can tell me the oldest Big East rivalry Pitt football has.

– Magician (or whatever the hell he is) Criss Angel said on CNN.com that he “feels for Britney [Spears].” Groundbreaking, CNN, just groundbreaking.

– The managerial merry-go-round keeps turning, Roc, and the word on the street is that Pittsburgh is the next stop.

– I am wholeheartedly excited to spend my entire Sunday afternoon at the Petersen Events Center this weekend, watching Pitt women’s hoops at 1 p.m., an alumni game featuring my childhood idol John Calipari (from his UMass days) after that and the men’s hoops game at 5 p.m. It’s basketball season, baby.

– There are two teams listed here as my darkhorse teams of Big East men’s hoops, Roc: Providence and West Virginia.

– I can’t wait for that list of steroid users in Major League Baseball to come out.

– Geez, A-Rod, you couldn’t wait one more day?

– TRIVIA ANSWER: Pitt’s oldest football rivalry, of course, is with West Virginia. It dates all the way back to 1895.

– Jamie Dixon better warm up to playing youngsters, because the trio of DeJuan Blair, Gilbert Brown and Bradley Wanamaker might just be better than people think.

– One final note: The Patriots are going to destroy the Colts on Sunday. I like making predictions, and this is a tough one, but I think this one’s going to be a blowout.

– I wonder who is running for Student Government Board on the slate, “Useless?”

Contact Jeff Greer at jag59@pitt.edu.