Willie Wilson Did the Work of (at Least) 2 Men

His cardboard crown could tell only part of the story

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1981 Fleer Willie Wilson (#653) - Card of the Day

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Quick now…which batter led the major leagues in hits and runs in 2024?

That’s a trick question, of course, because:

1. Two different players topped the majors in those categories.

2. No one carries around that knowledge in his head these days — we have Google, AI, brain chips, and, like, portable internet appliances.

3. Who cares about such pedestrian statistics when we have an entire cupboardful of rate stats??

But I’ll wager inflation-staggered dollars to really stale donuts that a goodly number of fans in 1981 could have told you who the 1980 hits/runs leader was.

And, for fans who were also baseball card collectors, it was a cinch, thanks to the newcomer dragon-slayer among card companies. Because, you see, Fleer jammed their inaugural (1981) set with several “special” cards that celebrated (yes) special moments and achievements from the 1980 season.

These were typically additional cards of some of the game’s biggest stars, over and above their 1981 Fleer base cards.

So we got cool entries like a Mike Schmidt MVP card, a Carl Yastrzemski 400-home run card, and a Rickey Henderson “Most Stolen Bases AL” card. Awesome stuff, and about the best sort of wax pack filler your 30 cents could buy.

Add to that list card #653, which crowned Kansas City Royals speedster Willie Wilson with the title of “Most Hits—Most Runs,” presumably because he led the bigs in hits (230) and runs (133) in 1980.

And, once you saw that smiling Willie (see top of post), how could you forget it? Or his accomplishments?

You couldn’t.

Of course, Fleer could have added most plate appearances, most at-bats, and most triples to Wilson’s crown, but that’s a lot of title for even a man of his talents, and especially for a card front.

This is a super fun card as it is, right in line with Fleer’s other 1981 specials and a glimpse at the madness that awaited in the form of Super Star Specials over the next few seasons.

The 1981 Fleer set, like its Donruss counterpart, is infamous for all sorts of gaffes, quirks, and variations, too. So it is for this Wilson gem, which was supposed to be card #653 but which also appears as card #29…which was supposed to be reserved for Wilson’s base (non-special) card.

Today, none of the three carries much of a premium in terms of value, or selling price, but it’s always fun to have a collecting challenge…right?

And also today, Willie James Wilson turns 70 years old. Which has to be some sort of damn lie, if you ask me.

(Not a lie, in case you’re wondering, is that Bobby Witt Jr. led the majors with 211 hits in 2024, while Shohei Ohtani topped the bigs with 134 runs scored.)

1990 Leaf Sammy Sosa Ran with Legends

It’s true — Sammy Sosa’s 1990 Leaf rookie card ran with the biggest cards from the era when he was setting home run records a decade or so later.

But Sosa himself unwittingly helped Willie Wilson unleash one of his final big running moments in the big leagues. Specifically, Wilson came in as a pinch runner for Sosa in the top of the eighth inning in Colorado with the Cubs leading the Rockies, 8-2.

Sammy had reached first base on a fielder’s choice.

The next batter, Rick Wilkins, doubled to drive in Mark Grace from first, and Wilson scored all the way from first. It was Wilson’s final run in the majors.

Sammy, of course, still had a lot of heavy lifting in front of him. And when he really got to it, that 1990 Leaf RC hit the big time, too. Read all about it right here.

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Amazon Prime Day(s) are going on right now, and it’s at least fun to peruse the deals for some “garage sale” sports items. Related to the above dudes, I found some neon team signs included in the specials, like this Royals number:

The White Sox are available, too, along with most/all other MLB teams. Check it out here (affiliate link).