Journeyman Milt Wilcox pitcnhded for Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Detroit, and collected some pretty cool stuĞ along the way
Milt Wilcox was a 20-year-old rookie and September call-up for the Cincinnati Reds in 1970 after a strong season at Triple-A Indianapolis. He stood on the pitcher’s mound in San Francisco and, even today, some 50-plus years later, he can still hear the public-address announcer:
“Now coming to bat, No. 24, Willie Mays.”
“My knees got weak on the mound,” Wilcox admitted. “I was always a huge Willie Mays fan for what he did for baseball, the kind of athlete he was. To me, he probably was the best player to ever play the game.”
Wilcox was able to retire Mays, though the Hall of Fame outfielder hit the ball hard: a sharp one-hopper to Tony Perez at third base.
“That was a defining moment in my career. I thought, if I could pitch against Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Maury Wills and legends like that, then I knew I could pitch against anyone,” Wilcox said. “I got to pitch against some greats in my career, including Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, George Brett, and so many others. People often ask, ‘Are you in the Hall of Fame?’ I reply, ‘No … but I helped put a lot of hitters in the Hall of Fame.’”
Now 74 and living in Florida, Wilcox pitched for 16 years for the Reds (1970–71), Cleveland Indians (1972–74), Chicago Cubs (1975), Detroit Tigers (1977–85), and Seattle Mariners (1986). He appeared in 394 games, including 283 as a starter, compiling a 119–113 record with a 4.07 ERA and 1,137 strikeouts.
“I always think, what would have happened if I had not hurt my arm [early in my career],” Wilcox said. “It hurt for about five years. Doctors then didn’t know much about shoulder and elbow injuries.
“If I had another five or six good years, who knows, I might have hit 240 or 250 wins. I think I was that kind of pitcher, but the shoulder didn’t let that happen.
“Still, it was a very memorable career. I had a lot of great times, a lot of fun, met a lot of great people, and not just baseball players, but people overall. I got to play in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela.
“Baseball took me a lot of places.”
Wilcox had his best season in 1984, his last of seven consecutive seasons with double-digit wins for the Tigers. He went 17-8 with a 3.56 ERA, helping Detroit win the World Series.
“The 1984 season was amazing,” Wilcox said. “It was like we were living in a whirlwind dream. It was like we couldn’t lose. At the beginning of the season, we knew we had a good team. We knew [manager] Sparky [Anderson] could lead us to a championship season, as he did with Cincinnati.
“It was kind of easy to pitch that year because, almost every game, you were pitching with the lead and had the best defense behind you in the majors.
“It was an amazing year.”
In his first major-league season, he won Game 3 of the 1970 NLCS and lost Game 2 of the 1970 World Series. Then, in 1984, he
pitched a shutout in the final game of the 1984 ALCS and was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the 1984 World Series.
Wilcox grabbed 97 wins during his days in Detroit.
“I had some really good years in Detroit; I was one of main pitchers on the club at that time,” he said. “From 1980-1983, all four of those seasons, we were close; we had a chance to win the pennant all those years. People don’t realize that. It just didn’t happen.”
Wilcox spent his last major league season, 1986, pitching for Seattle—and it was one he likely would rather forget. He appeared in 13 games for the Mariners and had an 0-8 record and 5.50 ERA. He was released on June 14, 1986.
Wilcox pitched for Cleveland from 1972-74, in an Indians’ rotation that featured Gaylord Perry, Dick Tidrow, and others.
“We had a pretty good starting rotation. Our fielders were amazing too, including Buddy Bell, Jack Brohamer, Graig Nettles, Ray Fosse and Chris Chambliss,” Wilcox said. “We had a good team, some great players, but it just never materialized for us. Still, I made some great friends, such as Gaylord Perry. We were friends until he passed.
“Major League Baseball, it was a fun time in my life, a learning experience.”
Wilcox moved from Detroit about 12 years ago after spending about 40 years living there. He now owns a dog competition company, Ultimate Air Dogs, touring the country for dog events at county and state fairs, etc.
Wilcox said some in the dog world are aware of his baseball past, but he doesn’t promote it.
“I never looked at it that I did anything special in baseball. It was just a job, what I had done since I was 8 years old,” he said.
However, when people learn of his baseball past, he often tells them to google his name—and then it leads to autograph requests, he said.
“It’s nice to see the surprise on people’s faces when they hear [that I pitched in the major leagues],” Wilcox said.
Wilcox’ rookie card came out in 1971, when he appears on Topps No. 164 along with shortstop Frank Duffy. He has most of his cards, which he often gives away.
His card trail includes a card from Venezuela, which he said is “pretty cool.” As for a favorite of all his personal cards, Wilcox went with his rookie.
“That [card] brings back a lot of memories,” he said.
There also is a mid-1980s card that he likes.
“I’m not sure which [card maker] did the card, but I have a real nice one, on the mound at old Tigers Stadium. That was a cool card,” he said.
Wilcox collected cards as a youngster, from age 8 to 14. He mostly purchased packs for bubble gum.
“I grew up in Oklahoma, so I was a big Mickey Mantle fan. Obviously was a big Yankees fan,” Wilcox said. “At age 11, in 1961, when Roger Maris hit 61 [home runs], I remember that like it was yesterday. We ate, slept and played baseball all day long, all year round, except during basketball season.”
Wilcox appeared on cards, stamps, discs and more. But never a bobblehead … or so he thought.
During a June appearance at the Detroit Sports Spectacular, he was asked to sign a Wilcox bobblehead.
“There has never been a Milt Wilcox bobblehead,” he said.
The collector asked Wilcox to sign a handmade Wilcox bobblehead.
“It looked exactly like me, had my name on there,” he said. “[The collector] was a big Milt Wilcox fan from [my] Detroit days. I signed it, took a picture of it and sent it to my wife.
“That was fun.”
Also at the Detroit Sports Spectacular, Wilcox talked with many fellow former major leaguers, such as Andre Dawson.
“I remember him coming up as a rookie and we talked in Detroit,” Wilcox said. “It’s nice to talk to guys now, especially because back when I played, we didn’t fraternize with the other teams, even before the game. It was us against them; that was the mentality we had on the field.”
Wilcox will appear at the National
Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland. He is scheduled to sign autographs on Friday, July 26 at 11 a.m.
“I’m excited to see a lot of the former players who I pitched against and played with. A lot of the guys [at The National], I probably won’t like too much … because they hit me so hard,” he said, laughing.
Wilcox said his personal memorabilia collection is limited, but he does have autographs from Sparky Anderson, Gaylord Perry and others … somewhere.
“They’re in a drawer, somewhere; I don’t even know where they’re at,” he said. “When I pass, someone is going to be going through all my stuff and [get] excited to find some cool autographs.”