PITTSBURGH - Jack Wilson enjoyed one of the greatest one-year turnarounds in Pittsburgh Pirates history, transforming himself from a below-average offensive player into the one of the NL's best-hitting middle infielders.

Wilson's big season was rewarded Thursday when he was voted as the Roberto Clemente Award winner by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. The award is presented annually to the Pirates player who best exemplifies the standard of excellence achieved by the late Clemente, the Hall of Fame outfielder who played from 1955-72.

Wilson was an easy winner, collecting all but three of the 14 first-place ballots. Also receiving one first-place vote each were outfielder Jason Bay - a strong contender for the NL rookie of the year award - left-hander Oliver Perez and catcher Jason Kendall.

Wilson, a .246 career hitter during his first three seasons, jumped his average to .308 - 52 points above his previous career high set last season - and had 11 homers, 41 doubles, 12 triples and 59 RBIs in 157 games.

The NL All-Star shortstop ended the season with a 12-game hitting streak (17-for-46, .370) that helped him become only the ninth shortstop in league history to get 200 or more hits in a season. His 201 hits tied Hall of Famer Honus Wagner's 96-year-old team record for the most by a shortstop and were the third-most by any National League player.

Wilson also became the first Pirates player with 200 or more hits in a season since Dave Parker had 215 in 1977.