Can’t Miss

Preston Wilson’s 35-ounce bat is heavier than most, he swings it harder than most, and last year he missed the most.

The Florida Marlins’ center fielder and cleanup hitter struck out 187 times in 2000, which put him in good company. Only Bobby Bonds has exceeded that total, setting the major league record of 189 strikeouts in 1970.

Bonds learned to make better contact and became an All-Star. The Marlins expect Wilson to do the same.

“He’s the kind of guy you’re going to win championships with,” manager John Boles says.

Last week the Marlins put a price tag on Wilson’s potential, signing him to a five-year, $32 million contract. That’s a hefty investment for a team whose payroll last season totaled $19.5 million.

“I’m grateful and blessed,” Wilson says.

Baseball bloodlines helped him get started in the sport--stepfather Mookie Wilson and godfather George Foster are former major leaguers. His strong work ethic and muscles are admired by teammates and opponents.

“Preston is going to be one of the top players in the game for a long time,” Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Gary Sheffield says. “He’s a can’t-miss star.”

Actually, he can miss and often does, which is Wilson’s biggest hurdle to stardom. He hit .264 last season and .244 with runners on base, and his on-base percentage was just .331.

But when Wilson made contact, he batted .383. He was baseball’s only 30-30 player, with 31 home runs and 36 stolen bases, and he broke Sheffield’s team RBI record with 121.

“I don’t worry about strikeouts,” Wilson says. “My strikeouts obviously aren’t preventing me from driving in runs.

“It would be nice to hit .330. But if I’m just hitting singles and being selfish just to hit .330, I’m not doing what I can do to help the team.”

The strikeouts do detract from Wilson’s accomplishments, however. At the end of last season, media attention focused on his flirtation with Bonds’ record. Boles drew heavy criticism for declaring he would bench Wilson rather than let him break the record.

“You know what? I’d do it again,” Boles says. “Who’s going to protect the player if the manager doesn’t? I didn’t want his season to be tainted by the strikeout thing.”

In the end Wilson played in every game, and he hopes to do so again this year. Boles predicts Wilson’s strikeout total will decline, and Marlins left fielder Cliff Floyd agrees.

“Despite everything Preston says, he doesn’t like striking out,” Floyd says. “It bothers him.”

Wilson is prone to swing at bad pitches, especially breaking balls. And when he falls behind in the count, his tendency is to swing even harder.

“At this point in my career, I’m not a disciplined enough hitter to be consistent when it’s 0-2,” he says. “I’m still in the learning period. My physical talents are ahead of my mental talents.”

At 26, he’s entering just his third year as a starter. He spent a rigorous offseason in the weight room, as usual, taking a break only to get married. At 6-2 and 208 pounds, he appears stronger than ever.

“He’s an aggressive hitter,” says Tony Perez, Marlins assistant to the general manager. “He’s got to do the same thing he did last year--go out there and swing.

“I always swung hard. I struck out. I didn’t care. It didn’t bother me. You cannot worry about strikeouts. It’s part of the game.”

Perez is tied for fourth in major league history with 1,867 strikeouts.

He’s also in the Hall of Fame.