<p>KISSIMMEE, Fla. _ Bobby Cox thought he'd seen it all in his 25 years as a major league manager. Then the Atlanta Braves signed Craig Wilson.</p><p>"He's out there, way out there," Cox said, shaking his head.</p><p>Wilson is crazy, funny, challenging and anything but shy as he adds a rare offbeat approach to a clubhouse best known for its staid, businesslike manner.</p><p>"He's different, but he's a good dude," said pitcher Macay McBride, one of Wilson's clubhouse neighbors in spring training. "He's kind of a jokester, in a different way."</p><p>Wilson is in his first spring training with the Braves.</p><p>Unless invited by Cox to chat, most newcomers wouldn't offer the probable Hall of Famer much more than a "Hey skipper" when walking by.</p><p>Wilson isn't like most newcomers, as he proved during a recent batting practice.</p><p>"OK, here's a joke," Wilson offered to Cox, not stopping to ask if Cox was a willing audience.</p><p>"You're the bus driver and you go to the first bus stop and pick up 8 passengers," Wilson says. "You go to the next stop and pick up 6 passengers and let 4 off. You go to the next stop and pick up 12 passengers and let 6 off. You go to the next stop and pick up 5 passengers and let 3 off."</p><p>Pause.</p><p>"What color are the bus driver's eyes?"</p><p>A stunned Cox stopped his silent game of mathematics just long enough for Wilson to jump in and say "OK, let me start again."</p><p>Said an exasperated Cox, pointing to the batting cage: "No, no! Go hit!"</p><p>Undeterred, Wilson continued: "You're the bus driver and you go to the first stop ... you get it?"</p><p>Said Cox, now half-smiling: "OK, OK, I get it. I get it! Now go! Go!"</p><p>While reporters around Cox laughed, a smiling Wilson walked away, satisfied with his successful prank and leaving the manager to contemplate a full season of pranks and jokes from his catcher-outfielder-first baseman-comedian.</p><p>It's a good thing this newcomer can hit.</p><p>"He just tries to push the envelope," said Braves veteran third baseman Chipper Jones.</p><p>Jones said Wilson already has tested Cox's coat-and-tie rules for road trips.</p><p>"He wanted to wear a Tommy Bahama shirt underneath a blazer," Jones said. "Bobby goes 'Uh, no.'"</p><p>Wilson can serve as the emergency third catcher, but he was signed to give the team a strong right-handed bat at first base and left field and as a pinch-hitter.</p><p>Wilson may share time with left-handed hitting rookie Scott Thorman at first base, though the original stated plan from Cox and general manager John Schuerholz was for Thorman to have a full-time job.</p><p>Wilson also could share time with Matt Diaz and Ryan Langerhans in left field.</p><p>Wilson, 30, has had as many as 400 at-bats only one season _ when hitting .264 with 29 homers and 92 RBIs for Pittsburgh in 2004. He had 561 at-bats that year but injuries helped put him back in a part-time role last season.</p><p>Wilson, traded from the Pirates to the New York Yankees on July 31 last year, combined for 17 homers and 49 RBIs with the two teams.</p><p>He has spent most of his six major-league seasons wondering where and when he'll play.</p><p>"You would like to zero in on one spot," he said. "It would be a lot easier to carry one glove every day."</p><p>So while he waits, Wilson keeps his swing sharp and his barbs sharper.</p><p>He sits at his locker, scanning for any opening for humor.</p><p>He sees a group of players huddled, speaking Spanish. The players in the group stop their conversation and don't appear to know how to respond when Wilson proclaims loudly "I've got our Latin friends who are showing me the way."</p><p>If a teammate walks by during an interview, Wilson manages to loudly introduce the player's name into his discussion.</p><p>Serious questions from reporters often earn less-than-serious responses.</p><p>Cox said Wilson didn't play left field early in spring training due to a sore throwing shoulder.</p><p>Wilson had a different take. His explanation was that it's too early in the spring to run all the way from the first-base dugout to left field and much easier to just run to first base.</p><p>"If they move us to the third-base dugout, I'll play left field," he added.</p><p>While with Pittsburgh, Wilson once commemorated teammate Benito Santiago's 40th birthday with a cake which read "Happy 140th Birthday."</p><p>Watching all the wackiness from Wilson's locker this spring is a new buddy, a spooky looking wooden statue.</p><p>"It's his Buddha," McBride says. "He comes in one day with it acting like a guy gave him a million bucks. The guy gave him the Buddha."</p><p>Added McBride: "He tries to get me to rub his lips every time before I go out to pitch. I tell him I do, but I don't."</p><p>Jeff Francoeur says Wilson's hitting and humor are big additions to the team.</p><p>"We've had a blast, just getting to know him a little bit," Francoeur said. "He's fun. He likes to joke. He likes to have a good time. He's got that dry sense of humor."</p><p>An example: "When I swing at one in the dirt, he says 'You were right on that,'" Francoeur said.</p><p>"You need that. The season is six or seven months long. You'll go crazy if you don't have somebody like that."</p><p>Said Jones: "He's just one of those guys we're not really used to having in the clubhouse.</p><p>"He's a good guy at heart. As long as he swings the bat well when he's playing first base or wherever, that's all we care about."</p>
