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Brian Wilson (baseball)

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Brian Wilson
San Francisco Giants – No. 38
Relief pitcher
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
debut
April 23, 2006, for the San Francisco Giants
Career statistics
(through October 3, 2010)
Win-Loss14-16
Earned run average3.18
Strikeouts284
Saves134
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Brian Patrick Wilson (born March 16, 1982 in Template:City-state) is a closer for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.

Major league career

Originally the #2 starter for the LSU Tigers[1], Wilson was drafted by the Giants in 24th round of the 2003 draft. He underwent Tommy John surgery during the 2003 season.

Wilson made his major league debut on April 23, 2006. In this debut, Wilson was pitching as a closer, as he pitched two innings, surrendering two hits and no runs while striking out three batters.[2]

Wilson was the closer in spring training 2007, but his 7.71 ERA caused the Giants to send him back to the minors.[3] After spending much of the 2007 season in AAA Fresno, Wilson was called up in August and was immediately used as the Giants' closer again. He converted six of his seven save opportunities and became the Giants' full-time closer in 2008. On June 6, 2008, Wilson was named to the All-Star team for the first time and gave up no hits and struck out one in 2/3 innings. On July 4, 2010, Wilson was awarded another MLB All-Star nod for the 2010 game in Anaheim. He has been the Giants' closer from his debut as the Giants' full-time closer until present day.

Brian Wilson recorded 24 consecutive saves between May 2, 2008 and August 20, 2008. He stars in Life of Brian, a reality show about him on CSN Bay Area.[4]

On March 25, 2010, he agreed to a contract extension with the Giants.[citation needed]

On October 3, 2010, Wilson closed out a game versus the San Diego Padres to win the Giants the NL West, simultaneously tying the Giants single season save record of 48, held by former Giants closer Rod Beck, and leading the major leagues in saves.

On October 23, 2010, Wilson closed out game 6 of the NLCS, which sent the Giants to the World Series to face the Texas Rangers.

Scouting report

Wilson is considered a power pitcher. He has a repertoire of three pitches. He throws a four seam fastball regularly within a velocity range of 95-98 mph, occasionally touching 100 mph. He also has a slider and cut fastball. His slider has sharp, late break down and away from the right handed hitter thrown in the high 80's and occasionally low 90's. His cut fastball is thrown in the low 90's with much of the same movement as his slider, but with a more slight break. Wilson is considered a fearless pitcher due to being unafraid of throwing on the inside part of the plate. He has impeccable command with the fastball, and complements it with his slider, often employing it as an off-speed pitch. He is also a corner-location pitcher, throwing the great majority of his pitches to both inside corners as well as the outside corner.

Personality

Wilson is noted for having a peculiar personality.[5] Wilson has a mohawk hairstyle and in 2010 grew a thick beard.[6] In the 2010 MLB All Star Game he debuted a pair of bright orange spikes and continued to wear them throughout the season, coloring half of them black with a sharpie after being fined $1,000 by National League for his non-conforming shoes.[7] In an interview with Jim Rome, he claimed to be a "certified ninja" which he learned in a dream.[8]

In keeping with his eccentric personality, Wilson has also made references to an apparent friend, named "Machine." Machine called Wilson during an interview on ESPN's Jim Rome is Burning, leaving his mask in the back pocket of Brian Wilson's pants. [9] Machine himself appeared, though unknowingly to Wilson, in the background of an interview on ESPN's talk show "Cheap Seats".[10] After winning the 2010 NLCS, Wilson remarked in a post-game interview that Machine may make an appearance at the World Series.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Brian Wilson bio". LSU. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  2. ^ "Brian Wilson 2006 Pitching Gamelogs". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  3. ^ Giants: Equipment man set to take Bonds' big locker?
  4. ^ "Giants survive scare to beat Marlins". Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  5. ^ Nightengale, Bob. Giants' closer Brian Wilson not as crazy as he looks, acts, USA Today, October 18, 2010, Retrieved 2010-10-21
  6. ^ Rubin, Gideon. Brian Wilson's beard has a mystique all its own, ESPN, Retrieved 2010-10-21
  7. ^ Marlins manager moans about Brian Wilson's orange shoes, Yahoo Sports Blog, July 28, 2010, Retrieved 2010-10-21
  8. ^ Fucillo, David. Giants Closer Brian Wilson Is A Certified Ninja, Bay Bridge Banter, September 10, 2010, Retrieved 2010-10-21
  9. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf0j1rmZVbM
  10. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrkSElfm7Lk

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