MILWAUKEE -- Whether it has involved playing or coaching, former Pirate Jack Wilson has always loved the process.
It’s partly why Wilson enjoyed a 12-year big league career, including nine seasons with the Pirates. It’s definitely why he continues to turn double plays at age 48, three times a week getting together with J.J. Hardy for 90 minutes of infield drills at 8:30 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“His boys are 6 and 8, and he built an infield in his backyard, like the one I had in California,” Wilson said by phone this week. “His wife [Adrienne] was a college softball player [at Arizona] and will sometimes play first. I should probably film it. People would be like, ‘Why are these two just grinding?’ But it’s pretty awesome.”
That obsession with baseball and learning its endless nuance has fueled Wilson’s latest desire: to become an NCAA head coach and bring former Pirates catcher Michael McKenry along with him.
Wilson and McKenry, who’ve worked together with USA Baseball and actually had current Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin on the 2023 18U national team, come as a package deal.
Instead of chasing a paycheck or notoriety, they’re hoping to go this route because they want to teach and impact younger players.
“I interview as the head coach,” Wilson explained. “The head coach always has the right to name his own staff. I go in with them knowing I have my staff ready. McKenry is my right-hand guy.
“Some schools will frown upon the pro guys, but we’re grinders. Shoot, I was 5-foot-10. It’s the same way we look at coaching. You have to outwork everybody.”
Wilson does have some college coaching experience, as he spent the 2023 season as an assistant at Grand Canyon University.
He was the head coach of the Greeneville Flyboys of the Appalachian League each of the past two seasons, but with his youngest daughter, Jersi Grace, set to graduate high school, Wilson will have some extra time on his hands.
What better way to spend it than being around more baseball?
“I’m pumped,” Wilson said. “I went back and got my degree to do this. This was the long-term plan, and it’s coming to fruition.”
One where Wilson says he can’t wait to travel the country recruiting and signing players who fit his vision, joking — or maybe not — that he could deploy four shortstops in the infield and have the tallest one play first.
But given what Wilson and McKenry have accomplished in Major League Baseball, this isn’t about money for them or furthering their careers. They’ve had those.
They’re interested in advancing beyond USA Baseball and building a program together, relying on thousands of games played at the highest level, as well as coaching some of the game’s brightest stars.
“If you have two former big leaguers on one staff, with the network we have between the two of us, I think we have a good chance of having some really strong recruiting classes,” Wilson said.
“We know we can impact kids’ lives off the field just as much as on the field. That’s a big reason why we love what we’re doing, just helping people.”
Wilson knows no other way, which is why he loves those fielding sessions with Hardy, who played for this weekend’s opponent (the Brewers) from 2005-09.
The two shortstops built a rapport during their time competing against one another in the NL Central. It was revived around three or four years ago when Wilson moved from Thousand Oaks, Calif., to Gilbert, Ariz.
To facilitate their work, Hardy purchased a FungoMan, which is essentially a computerized machine to spit out ground balls, two former shortstops staying in shape and maintaining their relationship with the game together.
“You can program it with a tablet to shoot balls in a certain order — 10 right at you, 10 to the right or left, slow rollers, whatever,” Wilson said. “It can be a grind. You only get eight or nine seconds between each ball that’s shot. But we love it.”
When Wilson isn’t fielding grounders with Hardy, he’s watching the Pirates — and the A’s because of his son, Jacob.
The first place Wilson’s eyes go naturally is shortstop, and it’s even better because he has a history with Griffin.
What Wilson likes the most is how much Griffin values defense, an expected answer from someone who was so smooth on that side of the ball.
“Usually high school guys, it takes a while to get the speed of the game,” Wilson said. “He looks pretty darn comfortable.
“He’s shown since he’s been drafted that he can be an elite defensive shortstop. He’s got the arm. He’s reminds me of [Alex Rodriguez], a big-body type of shortstop. He’s got great hands. He’s got a good exchange. He’s really smart. You can tell he cares about defense. It’s really fun to watch him.”
It’s not just Griffin, either. Wilson said Jacob raved about Braxton Ashcraft’s stuff, insisting it was some of the best he’s faced in the big leagues.
Between Ashcraft, Paul Skenes and others, Wilson believes the Pirates can maintain their strong start thanks to a plethora of pitching.
“They’re gonna have the best rotation in baseball,” Wilson said. “Those guys are gonna give you a chance, as long as you score more runs and play defense behind them, which they’ve been doing. I definitely think what they’re doing is sustainable.”
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.