Max Wilson

Max Wilson
(Maxie)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 7", Weight 160 lb.

• Debut September 6, 1940
• Final Game June 9, 1946
• Born June 3, 1916 in Haw River, NC USA
• Died January 2, 1977 in Greensboro, NC USA

BR page

Biographical Information

North Carolina native Max Wilson spent eight active seasons in professional baseball from 1938 to 1941 and 1946 to 1949. Max spent 1942 through 1945 in the service of his country with the United States Navy in the South Pacific during World War II.

Wilson starred in Britain in 1936-1937. He played for the Catford Saints in the London Major Baseball League the first year, then pitched Hull to the 1937 national title. Through 2012, he is the only major player to pitch a British team to a title. He was posthumously inducted into the British Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.

During his eight seasons in the minor leagues he amassed five double-digit winning years, with three of those coming in a row (1939-1941) with the Portsmouth Cubs, of the class B Piedmont League. In 1940 Max was 20-10 with a 3.02 ERA and in 1941 he got better with a 19-9 and a 2.39 ERA.

Returning from military duty did not seem to slow him down and he threw two more double-digit numbers with the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plain League going 15-4 in 1947 with a 2.20 ERA and 17-8 with a 3.63 ERA in 1948. These numbers finished up his minor league time and he finished out with a 99-61 record and a 2.68 ERA in 202 games and 1,358 innings.

Wilson received two chances at the major leagues. The first came with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1940 when Max appeared in three games, pitching seven innings with no decisions. On November 1, 1945, Wilson was drafted by the Washington Senators from the Portsmouth Cubs in the 1945 Rule V Draft. Max appeared in nine games for the Senators in 1946, pitching 12 2/3 innings with an 0-1 record. This was it for Wilson in the major leagues.

Wilson also performed as a player-manager for three seasons in the Coastal Plain League in 1947, 1948 and 1949.

Wilson called it quits after the 1949 season and moved to Greensboro, NC where he worked for the S&W Distributors for 23 years. Wilson died at his home on January 2, 1977 at 60 years of age.

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs ! Notes
1947	Wilson Tobs	Coastal Plain League	79-61	1st	none	Lost League Finals
1948	Wilson Tobs	Coastal Plain League		--	none	--	replaced by Irv Dickens on July 1
1949	Goldsboro Goldbugs	Coastal Plain League		5th	none		replaced Steve Mizerak on July 29