Hack Wilson
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Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson (April 26, 1900 – November 23, 1948) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball from 1923 to 1934. He is best known for his record-setting 191-RBI season of 1930. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979.
Wilson was a true rags-to-riches story. He grew up in the Pennsylvania steel mill town of Ellwood City. During his career, Hack Wilson played for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies. Wilson eclipsed the 100-RBI mark in 6 seasons. He set the National League single-season record for home runs with 56 in 1930 that stood until 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both surpassed it, with 70 and 66 respectively. During the 1930 season, Wilson also drove in 191 runs, a mark that remains one of the most untouchable MLB records. (For years, record books gave the total as 190, until research in the 1980s showed that an RBI credited by an official scorer to Charlie Grimm actually belonged to Wilson.) Amazingly enough, during the 1930 season, he never recorded a grand slam.
Although his career was brilliant, it was short. He finished his career having played only 1,348 games with a lifetime batting average of .307, 244 home runs, and 1,063 RBI. His excessive alcoholism led him to a premature death.