Artie Wilson, .400 hitter in Negro Leagues, dies

Artie Wilson, who once hit .400 in baseball's Negro leagues and mentored the teenage Willie Mays when they played together in Alabama, died Oct. 31 at his home in a retirement facility in Portland, Ore. He was 90 and had Alzheimer's disease.

Wilson was a speedy, 162-pound shortstop who played with the Birmingham Black Barons from 1942 to 1948. He led the Negro American League in batting two times and in 1948 had a robust average of .402.

He is considered the last player in a top-level professional league to hit .400. No major leaguer since Ted Williams, who hit .406 for the Boston Red Sox in 1941, has topped the .400 mark since.

In his final seasons in Birmingham, Wilson was a professional tutor to Mays, who became one of baseball's greatest stars.

"He was one of the guys that made sure I didn't get in any trouble," Mays, who first worked with Wilson at age 16, told the Oregonian newspaper in Portland. "I owe a lot of debt to him."

Their paths almost crossed again in 1951, during Wilson's short-lived major league career. He played in 19 games for the New York Giants before being released a month into the season. He was replaced on the roster by Mays.

"I didn't mind," Wilson said in 1991. "I kept telling [manager] Leo [Durocher] all that spring that Mays was going to be the best of all time. He came up, and the Giants won the pennant. I went down and got to play every day. It worked out fine for everyone."

Before and after his taste of the big leagues, Wilson had a stellar career in the Pacific Coast League. Wilson, who was known as "the Birmingham Gentleman," became one of the league's most popular players.

He came to the West Coast after two major league teams had vied for his talents in 1949. He was playing for the Cleveland Indians' top minor league team in San Diego when the New York Yankees complained that Wilson had previously made a verbal commitment to them.

Baseball commissioner A.B. "Happy" Chandler voided Wilson's contract with the Indians, and the Yankees then sold his contract to the Oakland Oaks. Wilson became Oakland's first black player. His roommate was his double-play partner, second baseman Billy Martin, who later played for the Yankees and had a standout career as a manager.

After a stint in the majors, Wilson moved on to Seattle, Portland and Sacramento in the PCL, hitting .300 four times. He retired in 1957 and attempted a comeback in 1962.

"The PCL was just another ballgame as far as I was concerned," Wilson recalled. "It never bothered me being there so long. I was making more money than a lot of the players in the major leagues. All I wanted to do was play baseball."

Wilson played in old-timers' games into his 70s and never tired of speaking of his days in the Negro leagues, playing alongside such legends as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell.

"Those fellows I played with were giants in the game," he said in 1991. "Oh, my, could they ever play! I know one thing - if some had played in the majors in their prime, there would be a lot more records than there are now."