Wilson hopes Pirates follow his '04 example

The shortstop had a remarkable season after three mediocre ones.
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) -- Jack Wilson proved that a seemingly average player can unexpectedly improve dramatically in one season. He would like to see the Pittsburgh Pirates do the same thing this year.
Wilson was a career .246 hitter until last season, when his 201 hits matched Hall of Famer Honus Wagner for the most by a shortstop in club history. It was a major turnaround, one he'd now like to see matched by a franchise coming off 12 consecutive losing seasons.
As he readies for his fifth Pirates season, Wilson is wearying of the persistent losing. The major league record for consecutive losing seasons is 16 by the Phillies from 1933-48, and the Pirates and Brewers are within four seasons of matching that.
Wilson won't even talk about that happening.
"We want to turn this around -- now," Wilson said Thursday. "The guys who have been here two-three years, we all feel the same way as the fans.
Unhappy about losing
"They may perceive some of us as rich millionaires, but we're right there with them -- we're getting agitated and upset about losing. After 12 years, we want to be the ones to change it."
Wilson's comments might seem overly optimistic considering the Pirates averaged 91 losses the last five seasons and haven't been within five games of .500 since 1999.
They made few changes during the offseason, other than dealing former All-Star catcher Jason Kendall and adding pitcher Mark Redman and outfielder Matt Lawton.
The encouraging signs: The Pirates had the majors' youngest team for much of last season, carrying as many as 11 rookies, and several top prospects are pushing for jobs.
If some teams in the NL Central regress -- the Cubs, for example -- the Pirates think they can be much better than they were in going 72-89 last season.
Champion theory
"All we hear is how bad we're going to be, and you can't read that stuff," Wilson said. "Nobody takes it seriously, and you can't. The bottom line is you don't have to have a championship lineup to win a championship. You've got to play like a champion."
The Pirates' lineup has a different look with Lawton atop the batting order. He hits for more power than Kendall did and should give Wilson more RBI opportunities. Wilson had only 59 RBIs despite hitting .308 last season, or three fewer RBIs than when he hit .256 in 2003.
"The only reason I got so many hits last year is I never walked," said Wilson, who had 26 walks in nearly 700 plate appearances. "That's obviously something I want to improve upon. If I hit .280 and drive in more runs, that's going to mean as much to this team as hitting .308."
New clubhouse leader
Wilson, the only Pirates player picked for the All-Star game last season, has become more of a clubhouse leader with Kendall gone.
That was evident when NL rookie of the year Jason Bay ($355,000) and top starting pitcher Oliver Perez ($381,000) refused the Pirates' final contract offers and the club automatically imposed those salaries.
Wilson argued each should have gotten more money, saying, "You kind of wonder what's going on around here."
"It's one of those things where you look around the clubhouse, and you think, 'Can anybody say anything?' " Wilson said. "I didn't want it to come out the way it did, as far as me bashing the organization. That wasn't the intention.
"It was just one of those things that when you look at it, you think, 'Wow, these are two pretty big parts of our team and, hopefully, they're going to get taken care of.' "
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.