Early years Wilson was drafted out of high school after signing a letter of intent to play
college football at
Maryland. The Kansas City Royals picked him in the first round (18th overall) of the
1974 Major League Baseball draft. He started his professional career with the
Gulf Coast Royals, batting .252 with a home run, 14 RBI and 24 stolen bases in 47 games. He moved up to Single-A in 1975 for the
Waterloo Royals, leading the 1975 Midwest League champions in both RBI (73) and stolen bases (76). In 1976, Wilson played for the Double-A
Jacksonville Suns, batting .253 with a home run, 35 RBI and 37 stolen bases in 107 games. Wilson began the 1977 season with the Triple-A
Omaha Royals. In what turned out to be his last minor league action (not counting a stunt appearance in 2009), he batted .281 with four home runs, 47 RBI and 74 stolen bases in 132 games. He also appeared in three games in the
1978 American League Championship Series against the
New York Yankees, going 1-for-4 (.250) in the series.
Getting established 1979 Wilson started the 1979 season as the Royals' fourth outfielder, but by mid-May he had established himself as the team's starting left fielder. In 154 games, he batted .315 with six home runs and 49 RBI. On defense, he led the league in
range factor and
putouts and finished second in
assists among left fielders.
1980 In 1980, Wilson started the year as the starting center fielder when Amos Otis opened the season on the disabled list, and acquitted himself well, posting an above-average range factor and making just one
error in 195
total chances for the year in center. He moved back to left when Otis returned in late May, and wound up leading the league in several categories. Wilson finished with a .326 average, three home runs, 49 RBI and 79 stolen bases (in 89 attempts) in 161 games. He also led the league in hits (230),
runs scored (133), triples (15), and singles (184). Wilson finished second in stolen bases, and had at least 100 hits from both sides of the plate. He won both the
Gold Glove and
Silver Slugger Awards, and was fourth in the AL MVP voting, his best finish. Wilson batted .308 and tied
George Brett for the team lead in
runs batted in with four during the series as the Royals swept the
Yankees in three straight games. In the
1980 World Series, Wilson batted just .154 and struck out against
Tug McGraw for the final out of the Royals' Game 6 loss to the
Philadelphia Phillies. This strikeout was Wilson's 12th of the Series, breaking the record of 11 held jointly by
Eddie Mathews and
Wayne Garrett in the
1958 and
1973 World Series, respectively.
Ryan Howard would break Wilson's record by striking out 13 times in the
2009 World Series.
1981–83 Wilson's batting average slipped to .303 in the strike-shortened 1981 season, and most of his other numbers were off from the previous two seasons as well. In the
1981 American League Division Series against the
Oakland A's, he batted .308, but failed to score a run, steal a base, or get an extra-base hit in the three-game sweep. Although the Royals missed the playoffs for the first time since 1979, Wilson made his first American League All-Star team that year and winning his second Silver Slugger Award. In 1983, Wilson moved to center field in June when the club decided to shuffle their outfield, moving long-time center fielder Otis to
right field, and moving
Pat Sheridan and
Leon Roberts, who had been sharing right field, over to left. In the midst of the shuffle, Wilson had his worst season at the plate to date, batting .276 with two home runs and 33 RBI in 137 games. They became the first active major leaguers to serve jail time, serving 81 days at the
Fort Worth, Texas, Federal Correctional Institution. He was suspended by commissioner
Bowie Kuhn for the entire 1984 season, but the suspension was reduced on appeal and he was able to return on May 15. with only Wilson returning to the Royals. He hit .301 with two home runs and 44 RBI in 128 games, and stole 47 bases in 52 attempts. leaving Wilson as the starting center fielder. He played in 132 games, his most since 1988, and batted .270 with 37 RBI and 28 stolen bases. He started 1993 in a center field
platoon with
Dwight Smith, later splitting time with
Sammy Sosa when the latter wasn't playing in right field. He batted .258 with one home run and 11 RBI in 105 games, but managed just seven stolen bases—a career-low for a full season. For his career, Wilson hit 13
inside-the-park home runs, the most of any major league player playing after 1950. He topped a .300 batting average five times and also led the league in triples five times, being one of only four players to accomplish the feat. Wilson posted a .987 fielding percentage as an outfielder in the majors. == Post-playing career and honors ==