PIRATES Shortstop Jack Wilson given the Clemente Award by writers

Jason Bay, Oliver Perez and Jason Kendall also received votes.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Jack Wilson enjoyed one of the finest one-year turnarounds in Pittsburgh Pirates history, transforming himself from a below-average offensive player into the one of the NL's best-hitting middle infielders.
Wilson's season was rewarded Thursday when he was voted as the Roberto Clemente Award winner by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. The award is presented annually to the Pirates player who best exemplifies the standard of excellence achieved by the late Clemente, the Hall of Fame outfielder who played from 1955-72.
Wilson was an easy winner, collecting all but three of the 14 first-place ballots. Also receiving one first-place vote each were outfielder Jason Bay -- a strong contender for the NL rookie of the year award -- left-hander Oliver Perez and catcher Jason Kendall.
Wilson, a .246 career hitter during his first three seasons, jumped his average to .308 -- 52 points above his previous career high set last season -- and had 11 homers, 41 doubles, 12 triples and 59 RBIs in 157 games.
The NL All-Star shortstop ended the season with a 12-game hitting streak (17-for-46, .370) that helped him become only the ninth shortstop in league history to get 200 or more hits in a season. His 201 hits tied Hall of Famer Honus Wagner's 96-year-old team record for the most by a shortstop and were the third-most by any National League player.
Wilson also became the first Pirates player with 200 or more hits in a season since Dave Parker had 215 in 1977.
Confidence
Manager Lloyd McClendon said Wilson developed confidence while getting off to a good start and stayed confident the rest of the season, never going through a prolonged slump.
"You could tell he felt overmatched [before] at times against the top pitchers," McClendon said. "It was just a matter of him developing some confidence. "He's going deeper into counts now, he's using the entire field to hit and he's not as worried about getting jammed."
Until this season, Wilson had never had more than 143 hits, 22 doubles, four triples or nine homers in a season. He failed to set a career high only in RBIs; he had 62 in 2003, when he more often hit seventh or eighth rather than second, as he did nearly all this season.
Wilson, 26, becomes only the second shortstop to win the Clemente Award since it was first presented in 1973, joining 1993 winner Jay Bell. Wilson and Kendall are the only Clemente Award winners still with the team. Kendall won in 1998.