By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Reds starting pitcher Paul Wilson never gave up when adversity came. Now he's 7-0 with a 3.34 ERA this season. The Cincinnati Enquirer/JEFF SWINGER

An ESPN film crew waits outside as Paul Wilson settles into a clubhouse chair for the afternoon's next interview.

Near this spot, where the Reds pitcher relaxes with legs crossed, a teammate stops and politely interrupts.

"When you're done," relief pitcher Todd Jones begins, "we could use your help saving the world."

Jones was cleverly referring to an ongoing video-game crusade in the players' lounge.

But on a recent rainy May afternoon, when the curious dig for Wilson's innermost thoughts and teammates vie for his video-game assistance, no request proves too overwhelming.

Not for this 31-year-old pitcher who, after two serious arm injuries, has meant so much to the Reds' early-season success.

"He's worked his (rear) off to learn how to pitch as a different pitcher," Reds pitching coach Don Gullett said. "It's a tribute to the hard work, persistence and the competitive nature he has."

PAUL WILSON FILE

Position: Pitcher Age: 31 Height/Weight: 6-feet-5/214 pounds Throws/Bats: Right Born/Resides: Belleville, Ill./Stuart, Fla. Record: 7-0 ERA: 3.34 Games started: 10 Innings pitched: 64 2/3 Hits: 68 Strikeouts/Walks: 35/15

Wilson will carry a spotless 7-0 record and a 3.34 ERA into his next start. The right-hander

missed his last scheduled start because of a strained groin but expects to pitch Saturday against the Expos.

Cincinnati begins its three-game series today at Great American Ball Park. With a 32-21 record, the Reds are 11 games over .500 and reside atop the National League Central standings.

The numbers associated with Wilson's impressive start represent a fraction of the tale about this one-time phenom, who never caved to shoulder and elbow problems when doing so would have been understandable.

"I was there with him for the first surgery, and I was there with him for the second surgery," said Shannon Wilson, Paul's wife of more than six years. "Just to see how hard he's worked and how hard he's fought to get back here, I don't think anybody is any more deserving than him."

• • • 

Steered by a workaholic's desire to re-prove himself following arm surgeries in 1996 and 1999 - events that forced him to reinvent himself as a sinkerball pitcher - Wilson has found success on the field with the support of unflinching love off it.

This is a husband who describes his wife as "my life and my best friend."

"She's been through it thick and thin, all the way," Wilson said. "When I had my elbow surgery, Shannon fed me my food and helped me get dressed - the things you don't ever hear about."

This is Jerry and Annette Wilson's son, who still calls home after every start and is an endless source of chest-puffing pride.

"Every time he pitches, I'm a nervous wreck," Annette Wilson said. "I can't eat. But as soon as they take him out, good or bad, whatever he's done, I'm ready to eat. There is just such a relief."

The family moved from Illinois to Orlando, Fla., when Paul was 4 years old.

Two years later, he was throwing to his dad in the front yard. The act sometimes moved into the street, where Jerry Wilson would come home from work and squat down in his dress slacks to catch his son's pitches.

"You always think your son is going to be the next Roger Clemens, or at that time, the next Nolan Ryan," Jerry Wilson said. "I knew there was some talent there. How much talent? You just never know."

Enough talent that, by his senior year at William R. Boone High School in Orlando, Florida State offered a scholarship.

"I just remember he was this tall, gangly kid that worked hard and had fun playing the game," said Pete Post, head baseball coach at Boone High, where a replica of Wilson's No. 12 jersey is displayed on the center-field wall.

"What you see of him now is the way he was when he was younger. He's been a level-headed guy all the way through."

Enough talent that the Pirates took a chance on Wilson in the 57th round of the 1991 draft.

"I had to talk until I was blue to get him not to sign," Jerry Wilson said.

• • • 

The decision to honor his commitment to Florida State proved the smart, but not easy, choice.

As Wilson matured physically, his fastball found new life.

"It was awesome," Wilson said. "This thing that I was told I was lacking, all of the sudden I possessed it."

By the spring of his junior year, when trade publications and major-league teams projected him as a first-round draft pick with a 93-96 mph fastball, Wilson's grade-point average was suffering

"I apologized to two professors that taught classes I got D's in," Wilson said. "I told them it wasn't a reflection of how they taught the course.

"I came to college to figure out what I wanted to do. All of the sudden, I knew what I wanted to do, and it had nothing to do with those two courses."

The Mets used the No. 1 overall pick in the 1994 draft on Wilson. Two years later, he made 26 starts and went 5-12 with a 5.38 ERA for New York.

Arm problems followed and cost Wilson parts of the next three seasons. There was shoulder surgery in 1996 followed by elbow surgery in 1999.

The lowest point came upon learning he would need the second surgery.

"He really had a great spring training, but he started having the elbow pain," Jerry Wilson said. "Even then he said, 'I'll be back. It's not going to beat me.' "

And it didn't.

• • • 

A trade to pitching-needy Tampa Bay in July 2000 got Wilson back into the big leagues and ended his affiliation with the only organization he had known.

Wilson won a career-high eight games in 2001 and set career highs for games started (30) and innings pitched (193 2/3) in 2002 with the Devil Rays.

The Reds signed him to a two-year contract before last season when he went 8-10 with a 4.64 ERA over 166 2/3 innings, leading Cincinnati in starts (28), innings pitched, strikeouts (93) and quality starts (17).

More reliant on pitch location and defense than speed and machismo, Wilson is a different pitcher than the one drafted by the Mets.

"I mostly just sneak around and poke at you," he said. "Like, 'Don't look over here, but one, two, three, you're out.' "

He and Clemens, a six-time Cy Young Award winner, are the only major-league starting pitchers with seven or more wins and no losses entering today's game.

Wilson has walked 15 batters and struck out 35 in 64 2/3 innings. Opponents are batting .269 against him.

"Guys that get in trouble are the ones that throw the ball down the middle or give up a walk, a bloop hit and a two-run home run," Florida Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell said. "Those things don't seem to be happening when (Wilson's) on the mound."

• • • 

The effort exerted by Wilson to reach this point is unrivaled.

"I would be dishonest to myself, cheating myself somehow if I didn't feel or act the way I do," he said.

A prodigious worker on the days he doesn't pitch, Wilson has lost 22 pounds and reduced his body fat from 18 to 11 percent since spring training.

"He's a true professional in every sense," Gullett said. "I think that's what has enabled him to reach this point."

Wilson is in a contract year - the Reds are paying him $3.5 million - and would like to remain in Cincinnati.

"Hands down, yes," Wilson said.

And though he is not satisfied with simply being 7-0 and a hot story again, the people closest to Wilson are as proud as ever.

"I think he's finally getting his due," Jerry Wilson said. "I think there are a lot of people that are starting to realize how good a pitcher he really is."

E-mail kkelly@enquirer.com