Earl Wilson: Author Of A Historic No-No – And More

Earl WilsonPhoto byUnknown author

By Bill Pruden

As Louisiana-born Earl Wilson took the mound at Fenway Park on June 26, 1962, against the Los Angeles Angels, he had no reason to believe he was about to put his name in the baseball record books. His Boston Red Sox team was struggling, sitting at 32-38, and he was facing Bo Belinsky, who came into the game with a 7-2 mark, a record that included a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles on May 5. But by the end of the night, Wilson, the first Black pitcher for a Red Sox franchise that was shamefully late to add African American talent, became the first Black player in American League history to pitch a no-hitter.

Wilson made his big league pitching debut in 1959, joining the team in July and debuting just days after Pumpsie Green, the first Black player in Red Sox history. The 6-foot-3 right-hander, known for his fastball and his slider, spent most of 1960 and all of 1961 in the Minors, but as the 1962 season unfolded he earned a spot in the team’s rotation. After losing his first start, the 27-year-old bounced back, winning five of his next six decisions to bring his record at game time to 5-2.

The game was a pitcher’s battle from the outset. Wilson and Belinsky both retired the side in order in the first and then each walked a batter in the second. While Wilson cruised through the third, notching the second of five total strikeouts, Belinsky ran into trouble, ironically at the hands of Wilson who homered over the left-field wall to give himself a 1-0 lead.

Buoyed by his batting heroics, he continued his pitching mastery, recording another 1-2-3 inning while the Red Sox got to Belinsky in their half of the fourth for another run to give Wilson a 2-0 lead as the teams headed to the fifth.

After getting the leadoff batter to ground out, Wilson walked the next two batters but escaped the jam by getting the bottom of the order to fly out. Only another walk, this one to Billy Moran in the sixth, marred Wilson’s efforts over the next three innings as he retired nine of the 10 batters he faced in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings.

As he headed to the mound for the top of the ninth, Wilson was three outs away from baseball immortality. And in short order, he achieved just that. Facing the second, third, and fourth batters in the Angels’ lineup, Wilson induced all to fly out, one to short and two to the outfield, thus completing his historic effort. In earning his sixth win, an effort that dropped his ERA to 3.16, he had struck out five and walked four.

It was the second no-hitter of the season, following Belinky’s effort in the first week of May. But Wilson was joined in the no-hit club less than a week later by Sandy Koufax who pitched the first of his four career gems on June 30. Then on Aug. 1, Red Sox teammate Bill Monbouquette got one of his own against the Chicago White Sox. Minnesota Twins lefty Jack Kralick got the season’s fifth on Aug. 26. The five compiled during the 1962 season was the most in a single season since 1917, when Major League Baseball saw five individual no-hitters and one combined effort.

For Earl Wilson, while it was likely the individual highlight of his big league career, it was only one element of a distinguished tenure that included parts of 11 seasons. Wilson finished the 1962 season with a 12-8 record and had double-figure victory totals in each of the next three seasons with the Red Sox. In 1966 he was 5-5 with Boston when, on June 14, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers.

Wilson flourished with the Tigers, winning 13 games over the remainder of the 1966 season while posting a 2.59 ERA. But that was only the beginning. With the Tigers for the whole of 1967, Wilson won a career and league high 22 games, while starting 38. The durable Wilson matched his 1966 total, with 264 innings pitched, and he struck out 184 batters as he finished in the top 15 in AL MVP voting for the second straight season.

The 1968 season was nothing short of triumphant for Wilson. As the third starter behind 31-game winner Denny McLain and southpaw stalwart Mickey Lolich, Wilson finished 13-12, with an ERA of 2.85 while starting 33 games for the World Champion Tigers, who bested the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. While Wilson was the loser in Game 3 of the Series, he was a critical contributor to the team’s championship run.

The 1968 season also showcased a distinctive aspect of Wilson’s career. Perhaps not surprisingly for a man who started his professional career as a catcher only to be converted to pitcher, Wilson was widely recognized for his home run power, and never was that more apparent than in 1968. As the Tigers powered their way towards October, Wilson hit seven home runs in 88 at-bats, his at bat-to-home run ratio of 12.57 being higher than any player in the Major Leagues in 1968.

And it was not a fluke. Over the course of his career, he hit 35 home runs, 33 as a pitcher, two as a pinch-hitter. In addition, he had 111 RBIs. His 33 home runs as a pitcher are exceeded only by Wes Ferrell with 38, Bob Lemon with 37, Warren Spahn with 35, and Red Ruffing with 34.

Wilson pitched for two more seasons after the 1968 championship effort. In 1969 he finished 12-10 for the Tigers in 35 starts and in 1970, he made 18 starts for the Tigers before they sold him to the San Diego Padres in mid-July. Wilson compiled a record of 1-6 in nine starts and 15 appearances with the Padres.

Released by the team in January 1971, Wilson’s last appearance was Sept. 22, just a week shy of his 36th birthday. Overall, the big righthander compiled a record of 121-109 with a career ERA of 3.69, a historic no-hitter and a World Series ring. Not bad for a one-time catcher.

Bill Pruden is a high school history and government teacher who has been a baseball fan for over six decades. He has been writing about baseball--primarily through SABR sponsored platforms, but also in some historical works--for about a decade. His email address is: courtwatchernc@aol.com.