Career
He played for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs of the National League and the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners of the American League. On April 15, 1983, Wilcox came within one out of a perfect game, when Chicago White Sox batter Jerry Hairston, Senior singled off him in the ninth inning. The perfect game would also have been the first no-hitter by a Tiger since Jim Bunning in 1958.
With Detroit, he was a reliable starter in the rotation for years, consistently giving his team six and more innings each start.
This complemented Jack Morris and Dan Petry, who were power pitchers and considered the aces. His 17 wins in 1984 were important in the Tigers" run to their world championship.
That year, he also started his season going 6-0. This was not duplicated by a Tiger pitcher until 2007, by Jeremy Bonderman.