was still able to throw runners out on such plays. He had an unusual physique, standing 5'8" and weighing 195 pounds with a large torso, a small waist, bowed legs and pigeon toe. Pitcher Satchel Paige claimed that Wilson and Chino Smith were the two toughest outs he ever faced (Wilson hit .375 against Paige). Catcher Josh Gibson said that Wilson was the best hitter in baseball. Wilson was known for a bad temper and a willingness to get into physical altercations. His friend Jake Stephens said, "The minute he saw an umpire, he became a maniac." A well-circulated story involved Wilson holding Stephens out of a 16th story window by one leg after Stephens came in late and woke him. Others, including Judy Johnson and Ted Page, described him as different off the field. "He'd do anything in the world for you," Johnson said. Late in his career, Wilson developed epilepsy. During a Negro World Series game, Wilson began to draw circles in the dirt and was said to be unaware of his surroundings. Later life After retiring, he worked on a road construction crew in Washington, D.C. He had to be institutionalized late in life. Wilson died at age 69 in Washington, D.C. and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Legacy Wilson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Negro Leagues Committee in 2006. Wilson was elected in a class of 17 Negro league and black pre-Negro league inductees, the largest such group inducted in Hall of Fame history. Hall of Fame officials did not think that Wilson had any living relatives, but a great-niece heard about his scheduled induction and was able to attend the ceremony on his behalf. In 2010, the Washington Nationals honored Wilson and five other Homestead Grays in the Hall of Fame by including them in a Hall of Fame Ring of Honor at Nationals Park. See also List of Negro league baseball players References External links and Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats and Seamheads and Seamheads Negro League Baseball Players Association - biography 1894 births 1963 deaths National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Baltimore Black Sox players Pittsburgh Crawfords players Homestead Grays players Baseball players from Virginia People from Fauquier County, Virginia Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Philadelphia Stars players United States Army personnel of World War I 20th-century African-American sportspeople