During his time with the team, he met Dick Spalding, another two sport athlete, whom he later hired as his first base coach when Wilson managed the Phillies and Cubs.

When he signed with Bethlehem Steel in July 1920, the local newspaper stated, "The addition of Wilson would be a most welcome one, because his campaigning on the baseball diamond has been as brilliant as that in soccer circles.

Wilson's National League playing career would stretch over 18 seasons (1923–40) with the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds.

[4] A game on April 23 between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals had been postponed, and when it was about to be played at Crosley Field on May 13, it was found that no umpires had been assigned by the National League.

[6] In August 1940, the Reds were stunned when Willard Hershberger, backup catcher to future Baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi, committed suicide in his Boston hotel room.

The 40-year-old Wilson came off the coaching lines and joined the active roster, serving as the club's third catcher behind Lombardi and rookie Bill Baker.

His stardom in the 1940 Fall Classic led to his second and last major league managing job, with the Chicago Cubs (1941–44), but he never had a winning record in Wrigleyville and his highest finish was fifth, in 1943.

[7] He was replaced by Roy Johnson for one game before Charlie Grimm took over as manager of the Cubs; that team finished fourth in 1944 before winning the pennant the following year.

Released along with Reds manager Bill McKechnie at the end of the 1946 season, Wilson moved to Florida and entered the citrus growing business.