Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as Albert Belle loved bulldozing people.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a talented pitcher and his suspicious death.

Don Wilson made his big-league debut with the Houston Astros back in ‘66 and his future was bright.

During his rookie season in ‘67, Don threw his first no-hitter; a 10-inning battle vs Hank Aaron and the Braves.

Wilson etched his name into the history books that day, and also earned himself a $1,000 raise from Astros owner, Roy Hofheinz.

In a post-game interview, Hammerin’ Hank said “it’s young guys like this that make me want to retire.”

A couple years later, Don was back at it again; no-hitting the Cincinnati Reds.

What’s extra crazy about that second no-no is that the Reds had no-hit the Astros the day before as well.

It was the second time in major league history that two teams exchanged no-hitters on consecutive days.

Don also made the news later that year when it came out that he and his white teammate, Curt Blefary, would share hotel rooms on the road.

Unfortunately, this was a time when that kind of thing was still controversial, but Belfary had a simple message for the haters.

Don continued to pitch well and made his first All-Star appearance in ‘71.

It seemed like Don had it all: money in the bank, a great career, and a beautiful family.

But there’s a dark side to this story.

Fast forward a few years, Don and his wife, Bernice, had just celebrated Christmas with their two kids - Denise (9) and Alex (5).

Less than two weeks later, on January 5, Bernice made a cryptic call to a friend at 1pm asking her to come over because “something was wrong.”

She claimed that Don and the kids were all still sleeping and she didn’t know what was going on.

The friend instructed Bernice to physically check on Don, who had apparently fallen asleep in the car while it was parked in the garage.

Bernice came back and and told her friend that Don was non-responsive; they called emergency services, but of course it was too late.

When the ambulance arrived, Bernice answered the door wearing a green velvet robe and the paramedics immediately noticed the left side of Bernice’s face was swollen and bruised.

They went upstairs and into the garage to check on the rest of the family.

Shortly after, they returned and informed Bernice that her 29-year-old husband and her five-year-old son Alex were deceased.

They had to rush Denise to the hospital, and luckily, she made it.

The police also responded to the scene and discovered the Wilsons' 1972 brown Ford Thunderbird positioned on the left side of the two-car garage, with their Datsun 240Z parked on the right. 

A black stain was found on the concrete floor beneath the Thunderbird's tailpipe, and the same stain was also evident along the lower edge of the electric garage door overhead. 

Six hours later, Bernice was questioned by the boys in blue.

She claimed she had no idea how her face got bruised, and told the cops that her and Don had been with his teammate, Cesar Cedeño, on Saturday evening (the night before) - a claim which Cedeño contradicted.

Basically, Bernice had zero recollection of the night before and what could’ve led to this situation.

Something just seems off about the whole thing.

The medical examiner did autopsies on both Don and Alex.

Upon review of their blood analysis, they found a level of 68% carbon monoxide and a blood alcohol content of .167 in Don.

Alex’s blood test came back with a 62% level of carbon monoxide (a 40% level of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream is lethal.)

Neighbors and teammates were interviewed about the Wilsons.

Everybody said there was no way Don was suicidal, but they also claimed there was no indication of domestic violence or turmoil in the household.

When detectives tried to interview Bernice on January 14, she informed them that she had retained an attorney and she would not answer any questions without her counsel present.

Ultimately, the deaths of Don Wilson and his son were ruled as “an accident”, and no one was charged with any crimes, but the whole case really left more questions than answers.

THE KID

Growing up, Ken Griffey Jr. was more like a superhero to me than he was a baseball player.

To this day, I never pass up an opportunity to watch old highlights of “The Kid.”

Our friends at Homage have a bunch of Griffey merch that I think you’ll love.

Here’s a few pieces from the collection:

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

First off, this BEAST used to swing a 52-ounce bat!

They nicknamed him Ping for the loud sound it made when he hit a dinger.

He was Babe Ruth's roommate when he was on the Yankees, but probably the most interesting thing about Ping Bodie is that he once competed against an Ostrich in an eating contest, and won.

If you want the full story on that, just send this newsletter to one person with your referral link below.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Anomaly: The improbable career of Bartolo Colón

• The Boss Gets Banned: How Steinbrenner's big mistake created a Yankee dynasty

• The Blackmailer: Why Lenny Dykstra spends $500K digging up dirt on umpires