Artie Wilson - Baseball

Artie Wilson reached his sporting fame as one of the top hitters in the Negro Leagues in the 1940s, but reached his fame in Oregon mostly off the field as an employee for 30 years at Gary Worth Lincoln Mercury in Portland. Born in Alabama in 1920, Wilson played his way into the Negro Leagues with the Birmingham Black Barons in 1942 and reached the All-Star Game four times. He helped the Barons reach the Negro League World Series three times. In 1948, Wilson hit .402 for the Barons, the last time a Major Leaguer batted above .400. After winning the Pacific Coast League batting title with Oakland in 1950, Wilson reached the Major Leagues with the New York Giants in 1951 at age 30. In 19 games with the Giants, Wilson had four hits in 22 at-bats, drove in two runs and stole two bases. He spent the next six seasons mostly in the PCL, including the 1955 season in Portland. He won three more batting titles in the PCL, playing 155 games or more from 1952-56. He skipped the 1958-61 season, but returned for 39 games in 1962, including his final 25 games with the Beavers. He retired at age 41. He managed parts of the ’56 and ‘56 seasons in the Arizona-Mexicali Winter League. In 10 seasons in the minors, Wilson played in 1,331 games, had 1,609 hits and finished with a .312 average. Wilson was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, and the PCL Hall of Fame in 2003. He died in 2010.