Billings' Wilson remembered for dedication

Bob Wilson, longtime president and general manager of the Billings Mustangs, died Friday at the age of 71. He was entering his 35th season in the Pioneer League at Billings.

Wilson's impact on the Billings community will last far longer than his three-plus decades in the Mustangs' front office. The former Indians Minor Leaguer moved from Los Angeles to Billings in 1971 and began taking his family to Mustangs games each summer. Wilson took over as the team's president in 1974, and in 1990 he got to see his son Todd take the field for the Mustangs, 19 years after introducing his family to the city and ballpark.

"I've had a lot of awards and great moments in baseball personally," Wilson told The Billings Gazette in 2003, "But the best moment that I ever had was seeing Todd hit his first professional home run."

Wilson -- who was battling a heart problem and Parkinson's disease, according to the Gazette -- leaves a deep impact on the team and the fans he welcomed for so long. Wilson began the Mustangs' affiliation with the Cincinnati Reds in 1974 and went on to see his perennial rookie club win 10 league championships. He served for 20 years as the team's general manager, participated in the local Little League, volunteered as a football official and was eventually inducted into the Mustangs' Hall of Fame in 1993.

Wilson will be remembered as a friendly, caring community member who offered the game of baseball to everyone he could reach.

"He kind of came from the old school," said Mustangs General Manager Gary Roller. "What was more important to him than anything was that people were able to experience the game of baseball, and he went out of his way to make sure they could."

Wilson opened the gates to Cobb Field each season to children and groups who could not afford the price of admission. Baseball was a game to be enjoyed, an experience for children to have on a warm Montana summer day, and Wilson never let the business aspect of the game interfere with his dedication to the community.

"With kids or underprivileged groups, he'd admit them into the game for free," said Roller, who joined Billings in 1993. "He loved the game so much and the experience of baseball, he wanted everybody to be a part of it. That's what he's going to be remembered for. He was a genuinely nice man."

The Pioneer League showed its appreciation for Wilson in 2000 when it renamed the annual championship trophy the "Bob Wilson Trophy."

"At this point in time its very difficult to think of the Pioneer League without Bob Wilson," Pioneer League President Jim McCurdy said. "He was such a good working colleague in terms of league governance and his wisdom, knowledge of the league. He took care of players, of the umpires, of other teams, and the fans. He's a real throwback."

Wilson was also named the "King of Baseball," an annual life-time service award, by Minor League Baseball at the 2003 Winter Meetings.

"He was a great friend to everybody in the league, he was kind of the veteran in the league," said Roller. "He befriended the newer general managers, and he was a guy everybody looked up to."

"As league president, I cannot tell you how many times in the last 15 or 16 years that the league directors relied on Bob Wilson as a major player in our decision making," McCurdy said. "It's going to be a tremendous void."

Roller said Wilson never felt a desire to move up the baseball ranks and leave Billings.

"He was very content in Billings. He was a great friend to all, a true gentleman in every respect of the word," Roller said. "At the national level, and certainly within our community, he treated everyone as a friend and always had time for everybody. He was just a great guy to sit around with and talk about baseball."

Wilson often did just that. Before his health became an issue, the general manager could be found chatting with the young players, many of whom were fresh out of college and suddenly living by themselves in the middle of Montana.

"He was almost like a father figure to them," Roller said. "If they needed money, a loan, if they needed somebody to talk to, he was always there for them. On the way to the clubhouse the players would stop by his office and say hi -- they'd exchange stories. He really was a friend and almost like a father to those guys and the coaching staff as well. He forged a very close relationship with them."

Friendliness aside, Wilson also made sure his team wasn't being forgotten by the Reds. Roller said the stories about Wilson's relationship with the Reds' front office -- when he demanded Cincinnati send his team some better talent -- continue to swirl.

"They had struggled on the field, and he put his foot down in the late '80s and said, 'You're going to send us some better players, or we'll start looking elsewhere,'" Roller said. "We started winning championships, and we've been very competitive since then."

Despite his health problems later in life, Wilson continued to fight for a new ballpark in Billings. He campaigned for a new field in 2003, and the community approved a $12.5 million bond issue for a new Mustangs stadium in 2006. The man responsible for baseball in Billings, however, will never see his new ballpark. Roller said the team is currently exploring ways to memorialize its longtime president in the new stadium, just months away from hosting Opening Day in July. The Mustangs will wear a commemorative patch on their jerseys this season in honor of Wilson.

"I remember him telling me [over the years] that this heart [problem] and Parkinson's ... it's not fun," former Mustangs general manager Woody Hahn told the Gazette. "But he always said, 'It's not going to get me in regulation ... it's going to take extra innings.' I think he went extra innings. We're going to miss him."

Wilson is survived by his wife, Peggy, three children (Todd, Greg and Jody) and six grandchildren. There will be a visitation from 3-9 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 30, at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. on Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church, 2420 13th Street West.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to the Bob Wilson Memorial Fund c/o Billings Mustangs, P.O. Box 1553, Billings, MT 59103.