دون ويلسون (لاعب بيسبول)

التحق ويلسون بمدرسة سينتينيال الثانوية ، وبدأ مسيرته الاحترافية بعد تخرجه من كلية كومبتون المجتمعية في كومبتون، كاليفورنيا ، وانضم إلى فريق هيوستن أستروس عام 1966. ^{[ 2 ]} في بداية مسيرته، كان يميل إلى عدم دقة رمياته، لكنه عُرف أيضًا بأنه أحد أسرع الرماة في الدوري الوطني. ^{[ 3 ]} ظهر ويلسون لأول مرة في سبتمبر/أيلول، وتحديدًا في التاسع والعشرين منه، ضد فريق سينسيناتي ريدز . لعب ستة أشواط، وسجل سبع ضربات قاضية، بينما سمح بتسجيل نقطتين فقط، ليحقق فريقه الفوز بنتيجة 3-2. ^{[ 4 ]}

كان عام 1967 أول عام كامل له مع فريق هيوستن أستروس. شارك في 31 مباراة، بدأ منها 28 مباراة أساسيًا. حقق 10 انتصارات مقابل 9 هزائم، بمعدل 2.79 نقطة مكتسبة في 184 شوطًا، مع 69 قاعدة مجانية، و159 ضربة قاضية، و10 رميات خاطئة. في 18 يونيو، حقق ويلسون فوزًا ساحقًا على أتلانتا بريفز بنتيجة 2-0 في ملعب أسترودوم ، حيث لم يسمح لأي لاعب من الفريق المنافس بتسجيل أي ضربة. كانت هذه المباراة الأولى من نوعها التي تُقام في ملعب مغطى أو على أرضية عشب صناعي . خلال المباراة، أخرج 15 لاعبًا بالضربة القاضية، من بينهم هانك آرون الذي حسم المباراة. ^{[ 5 ]} ( مقطع صوتي ) في الموسم التالي، حقق ويلسون 13 انتصارًا مقابل 16 هزيمة، بمعدل 3.28 نقطة مكتسبة في 33 مباراة (30 منها أساسية) و208.2 شوطًا، مع 175 ضربة قاضية و70 قاعدة مجانية.

في المباراة الثانية من مباراتين متتاليتين ضد فريق سينسيناتي ريدز على ملعب كروسلي في 14 يوليو، سجل ويلسون رقماً قياسياً جديداً لنادي أستروس في عدد الضربات القاضية في مباراة واحدة برصيد 18 ضربة، حيث فاز أستروس بنتيجة 6-1. ^{[ 6 ] [ 7 ]}

He took an upswing with the 1969 season. He started the 1969 season as the Opening Day pitcher, the eighth different opening day pitcher for the Astros in their first eight seasons. Facing the expansion team San Diego Padres, Wilson pitched six innings and allowed two runs on three hits (one home run) with four strikeouts and one walk in a 2-1 loss.^[8] He went 16-12 with a 4.00 ERA in 34 starts and 225 innings while walking 97 batters and striking out 235 (a career high). He led the league in wild pitches with 16 while being second in strikeouts per nine innings with 9.400. On May 1, the day after the Reds' Jim Maloney no-hit the Astros 10–0 at Crosley Field for his second career no-hitter, Wilson returned the favor and no-hit the Reds 4–0 for his second career no-hitter. (Audio) The back-to-back no-hit feat was only the second in MLB history, the first having been accomplished in September of just the year before by Gaylord Perry and Ray Washburn. This second no-hitter was vengeance for Wilson: in his previous start against the Reds nine days earlier, he had given up seven runs in five innings and was the losing pitcher in the Reds' 14–0 drubbing of the Astros at the Astrodome.^[9] That year, the Astros finished .500 (81-81) for the first time in club history,^[10][1] That season, the Astros set what was then a big-league record for strikeouts in a season by a pitching staff. Two other Houston starters, Larry Dierker (232) and Tom Griffin (200), also struck out at least 200 batters that season, with Wilson having the most of the group. This was only the second time in MLB history that a team had three pitchers with 200 strikeouts.^[10]

The following year continued some of his upswing. He went 11-6 with a 3.91 ERA in 29 games (27 starts) in 184.1 innings, striking out 94 while walking 66.

1971, however, was his best season. He would have a career-best ERA of 2.45 and a 16-10 record in 35 games (34 starts) as he had career-high 18 complete games and 268 innings pitched while striking out 180 batters and walking 79 (facing over a thousand batters for the first and only time in his career) while leading the league in hits per nine innings with 6.5. He was selected to the All-Star Game for the first and only time in his career.^[1] as well as earn Astros MVP honors.^[11] Wilson pitched the seventh and eighth inning of the game, walking one and striking out two.^[12]

He was the Opening Day starter for 1972, the second Astros pitcher to have had multiple starts in the first game after Dierker. He went 7.1 innings against the San Francisco Giants in a losing effort, giving up four runs on seven hits (two home runs) in a 5-0 loss.^[13] He went 15-10 that year, having a 2.68 ERA (the third and last sub 3.00 ERA of his career) while pitching in 33 games (all starts) and throwing 13 complete games in 228.1 innings, striking out 172 batters and walking 66 (tied for his lowest in a full season of work). He reached 1,000 career strikeouts on September 11, doing so with his first of three strikeouts against the Los Angeles Dodgers, doing so against Willie Crawford. He declined in the following year, going 11-16 with a 3.20 ERA in 37 games (32 starts) and 239.1 innings pitched while striking out 149 and walking 92.

In what became his last season, he had a middling year. He went 11-13 with a 3.08 ERA in 33 games (27 starts) in 204.2 innings, striking out 112 batters and walking 100 (a career high). He won his 100th game as a pitcher on July 30, doing so against the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium. He pitched eight innings while allowing four runs on five hits (two home runs) while striking out nine and walking four as the Astros won 8-4.^[14] Wilson's last game was a two-hit, 5–0 shutout against the Atlanta Braves on September 28, 1974.^[1][15]