Bad Thing Happens to Good Person
When an athlete promotes a charitiable cause, clichè-happy commentators will often aver that the player is an "All-Star on and off the field."
On the field, Mariner backup catcher Dan Wilson is not an All-Star.
When he is on the field, which these days is rare, he's usually flying out to rightfield or grounding into a double play. This is why, for most of his career, Seattlest has referred to him as Dan "Rally-Killer" Wilson.
But we kid because we care. Wilson's 12-year tenure with the Mariners has coincided with the team's rise from perennial crapmasters to perennial contenders. He must be doing something right.
And off the field Wilson is a Hall-of-Famer: he's the adoptive father of two Eastern European orphans, a passionate advocate of international adoption, supporter of a Seattle school for homeless children, and, from all accounts, an all-around nice guy. Look at him! This is the face of a man who'd put money into the parking meter at 5:55.
But Wilson's baseball career may be over after he tore his ACL in last night's loss to the Angels.
The team put Wilson on the 60-day disabled list, and he will be evaluated today by the team doctor. Let's all cross our fingers and hope that Wilson, who must have a few chits with the man upstairs, doesn't go out like this.
