The Mysterious Death of Houston Astros Pitcher Don Wilson

Excerpted by Nicholas Stix

The Mysterious and Tragic Death of Don Wilson
October 12, 2010 by Mike Lynch · 22 Comments
Seamheads

“In the spring of 1968, a magazine called SPORTS STARS OF 1968: BASEBALL named Houston Astros hurler Don Wilson one of its “Stars of the ’70s” based on his rookie season performance in 1967 when he went 10-9 with a 2.79 ERA and tossed a no-hitter at the Atlanta Braves on June 18, fanning 15 batters in the process. At only 22, Wilson seemingly had years of success ahead of him. Little did anyone know he actually had only seven more years of life before it was tragically cut short on January 5, 1975.

“Reports of Wilson’s death hit everyone hard and left more questions than answers. He had been found dead in his garage, ‘slumped over a reclining seat on the passenger side of his sports car,’ the victim of asphyxia due to carbon monoxide. Apparently he drove into his garage at around 1:00 AM, activated the automatic door closer and passed out with the car still running. But the pitcher wasn’t the only victim of the tragedy; his five-year-old son, Alex, who’d been sleeping upstairs, was also [fatally] overcome by the toxic gas. Wilson’s nine-year-old daughter, Denise, who’d also been sleeping in her upstairs bedroom, was found alive but in critical condition, and his wife, Bernice, had a broken jaw and was in shock.

“Sources around the Internet list Wilson’s death as a suicide, but it was officially ruled an accident and was never considered anything more than that. But what really happened in the early morning hours of Sunday, January 5, 1975 and how did the Wilson family arrive at that point?...

N.S.: The following is a slightly revised version of a comment I posted.

This is great stuff. Granted, it’s much longer than I’d expected, and was a long haul, and yet:

It was a detailed narrative of a man’s entire career, with tremendous research and many interviews. You can’t do that in a quickie.

As for Don Wilson’s unfortunate demise, that was a January news story I’d missed at the time. I can recall concluding years later that, what with Wilson’s two no-hitters, that he was one of those fireballers of the time whose arm fell off, like Jim Maloney.

Specifically, we are supposed to believe that:

1. Don Wilson closed the garage door and started his car; but
2. Did not commit suicide; and
3. That his wife did not check on him for 12 hours, despite not seeing him inside their bedroom (breakfast?); and
4. Did not check the garage (but did check on their kids), when she heard car motor sounds during the night, even though she claimed they made it impossible for her to sleep; and
5. That she offered four different stories, regarding her broken jaw, without ever lying.

I’ve been married for 22 years, am a true crime junkie, and a veteran crime reporter, and boy does this stink. Talk about a suspicious death!

I ran it by The Boss, who said there’s no way Mrs. Wilson wouldn’t have checked on her husband after a bit, rather than after 12 hours.

One gap: You didn’t cite the reaction of Mr. Wilson’s family. Also, was the victim, er, decedent, covered by a life insurance policy, and if so, for how much?

Thanks.

See also:
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/houston-astro-don-wilson-and-his-suicide-in-1975/?unapproved=16407&moderation-hash=f6d04c687e37fda7ac60df0855ae124a#comment-16407