Rubric: Bulls-eye Statements by Famous Baseball Players

James Wilson, nicknamed "Ace, was a two-time All-Star catcher whose major league career spanned 23 years (1923-46) as a player, manager, and coach with four different National League teams. He played on four pennant winners, was a coach on a fifth, and was a member of two World Series championship teams. He is best remembered for his role in the 1940 World Series. At age 40, while a coach for the pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds, he was pressed into emergency catching duty and was the unlikely hero in the decisive seventh game, bringing a World Series championship to Cincinnati.

In his day, Jimmie Wilson was that baseball rarity: a dependable, hard-nosed catcher who could hit. As manager of mostly mediocre teams, he had little success, yet he was known as a fiery leader with a keen eye for talent who was not afraid to stand up for his players, as his 30 lifetime ejections attest. Although he possessed little power, he compiled a respectable lifetime .284 batting average, hitting over.300 four times. He was a solid contact hitter, striking out only 280 times in 4778 at-bats (5.9%), ranking 83rd all-time in this category. A fine defensive catcher, he led the National League in putouts three times, assists twice, and double plays three times, ranking 6th all-time in this last category. Prior to his major league career, he was also an accomplished soccer player.