outfielder, but by mid-May he had established himself as the team's starting left fielder. He batted .315 and led the league in stolen bases with 83 and singles with 148, while also finishing seventh in hits and third in triples. On defense, he led the league in range factor and putouts and finished second in assists among left fielders. 1980 In 1980, Wilson started the year as the starting center fielder when Amos Otis opened the season on the disabled list, and acquitted himself well, posting an above-average range factor and making just one error in 195 total chances for the year in center. He moved back to left when Otis returned in late May, and wound up leading the league in several categories. His 705 official at bats were a major league record until it was surpassed by Jimmy Rollins in 2007. He also led the league in hits, runs scored, triples, and singles, finished second in steals with 79, and had at least 100 hits from both sides of the plate. He won both the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards, and was fourth in the AL MVP voting, his best finish. During Game 2 of the 1980 ALCS, the Yankees' Willie Randolph was on second base in the top of the eighth with two outs and the Royals up by just one run. Bob Watson hit a ball to the left field corner of Royals Stadium. The ball bounced right to Wilson, but Yankee third base coach Mike Ferraro waved Randolph home. Wilson overthrew U L Washington, the cut-off man, but George Brett was in position behind him to catch the ball, then throw to Darrell Porter, who tagged out Randolph in a slide. TV cameras captured Yankee owner George Steinbrenner fuming immediately after the play. The Royals won 3–2. Wilson batted .308 and tied George Brett for the team lead in runs batted in with four during the series as the Royals swept the Yankees in three straight games. In the 1980 World Series, Wilson batted just .154 and struck out against Tug McGraw for the final out of the Royals' Game 6 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. This strikeout was Wilson's 12th of the Series, breaking the record of 11 held jointly by Eddie Mathews and Wayne Garrett in the 1958 and 1973 World Series, respectively. Ryan Howard would break Wilson's record by striking out