Preston Wilson

Wilson with the Cardinals on April 1, 2007

Center fielder

Born: July 19, 1974 (age 42)
Bamberg, South Carolina

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

May 7, 1998, for the New York Mets

Last MLB appearance

May 5, 2007, for the St. Louis Cardinals

MLB statistics

Batting average

.264

Home runs

189

Runs batted in

668

Teams

Career highlights and awards

Preston James Richard Wilson (born July 19, 1974) is a former professional baseball center fielder. He played all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball from 1998–2007. He is both the nephew and stepson of former New York Mets star Mookie Wilson. (Mookie married Preston's mother after his brother fathered Preston.)

At age 17, Wilson was drafted by the Mets out of Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School in the first round of the 1992 amateur draft. The Baseball America 1992 High School Player of the Year, Wilson was ranked among the top 100 prospects in baseball by the magazine four times between 1993 and 1998. He is known to be an aggressive hitter, according to scouts and media sources, based on his propensity to swing at the first pitch and his high strikeout rates.

After spending five seasons below Triple A and a season in 1998 in the Australian Baseball League with the Hunter Eagles, Wilson finally reached the majors in May 1998. Just two weeks after joining the Mets, he was traded to the Florida Marlins with two other minor leaguers for Mike Piazza. He returned to the minor leagues for most of the season.

In 1999, Wilson was the Marlins' regular center fielder. Wilson led the team in home runs and runs batted in as a rookie, and he finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting to Cincinnati Reds reliever Scott Williamson. The following season, Wilson joined the 30–30 club, slugging 31 home runs and stealing 36 bases. He added 121 RBIs, good for eighth in the National League. Wilson also lived up to his reputation as a free swinger, nearly setting a new record for most strikeouts in a season. His total of 187 fell two shy of Bobby Bonds' record at the time. Wilson hit 23 home runs in each of the following two seasons, though his overall production dipped, partially due to missed games.

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