There is probably little doubt that the game of baseball would have to rank No. 1 on the list of most popular sports in Portage County over the past 150 years. The area’s love affair with the game began round the turn of the century, and the sport has never waned in popularity since.
Many area players have gone on to enjoy varying levels of success nationally on the professional level, but the record shows that one native son, Walt Wilmot, stands out above the crowd.
Wilmot was born in Stevens Point in 1863 and certainly holds the title as the county’s most successful big league player. After a highly successful amateur career in Minnesota, Wilmot went on to play in the major leagues from 1888-1898. Wilmot began his big league career with the Washington Senators and quickly established himself as one of the game’s top power hitters, even leading the league in triples with 19 in 1889.
He was sold to the Chicago White Stockings in 1890 and went on to post career totals of 59 home runs, 1,100 hits, 594 RBI's, 381 stolen bases and a .276 lifetime average. His yearly salary of $4,250 was reportedly the highest in the league in 1890.
Wilmot’s name still appears in the record books for three separate feats. In 1890 Wilmot became one of only two players in history to be hit by a batted ball twice in one game - a dubious mark that still stands.
In 1891 he made his mark a second time by walking a record six consecutive times in one nine inning game, a feat duplicated only by Jimmy Foxx in 1938.
And in 1894 Wilmot became the only player to ever steal four straight bases in two games - a mark that has endured for 98 years.
Wilmot died in 1929 at age 65 and is buried in a family plot in Plover.