Longoria Trying To Hack RBI Record

If you're a baseball fan, you have figured out by now that Evan Longoria has nothing to do with Eva Longoria. She models. He swings. (There are, of course, other differences.)

And as long as the Tampa Bay Rays' third baseman keeps driving in runs at an absurd pace, we'll hear the name of Hack Wilson more and more often. Wilson, whose total of 191 RBI in 1930 is the seventh-oldest major record in baseball history, is the Hall of Famer that nobody knows. By making a charge at Wilson's number, Longoria may soon change that.

The second-year big leaguer is on track to finish the year with more than 200 RBI. And while you can't really expect that to happen, he's at least got a shot to challenge a standard that has been essentially forgotten.

So who is this guy?
Lewis Robert Wilson was a really amazing player. He was a 5-foot-6 power hitter, an apparent oxymoron. According to the magnificent resource that is baseballreference.com, only two players shorter than 5-8 have hit even 100 career homers. Wilson authored 244.
He drove in 109 or more runs in six seasons. Only one other man of his height has managed more than 88. (Joe Sewell had years of 92, 93, 98, 106 and 109).

Why don't we know all this already?

• Competition. Babe Ruth was among Wilson's contemporaries. Ruth hit 59 dingers in 1921 and 60 in 1927, which is why Wilson's total of 56 in that incredible 1930 season tends to get ignored.
• Bad luck. Baseball created Most Valuable Player voting in 1911, but in 1930, the ballotting was not conducted for reasons I haven't yet figured out. So Wilson's year went unrewarded.
• Time. Wilson's career and life were cut short by alcoholism. He made the Majors at age 23, played his last game at 34 and was dead at 48. He didn't survive to enjoy "Living Legend" status. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame 31 years after his death. Most of those who attended the ceremonies were more interested in the enshrinement of another guy. His name was Willie Mays.
• Timing. Wilson drove in 123 runs in 1932, but by the following year, he was in decline. It was in that 1933 season that baseball played its first All-Star Game. Wilson wasn't a viable candidate.

Longoria has some things going for him in addition to his talent. One is the identity of his team, which, while the defending American League champion, doesn't have the same hounding media contingent known to New York, Boston and Chicago. Another is the difficulty pitchers will have in avoiding Longoria, who is followed in the batting order by Carlos Pena, who leads the Majors in homers with 13 these days.

This could be an interesting story.