Former Giant Brian Wilson's resurfaces with no beard and a new sport

Brian Wilson, once the most colorful player on the San Francisco Giants, hasn't appeared in Major League Baseball since pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2014, but he's still finding his way in front of television cameras.

Wilson, who apparently made a lot of trouble for himself behind the wheel as a teen, appeared on a British show on Amazon Prime Video called "The Grand Tour." The show, about automobiles, is something of an unofficial spinoff of "Top Gear," and features both pre-recorded segments and bits in front of a live audience.

Season two of the show premiered in early December, and the second episode's "Celebrity Face Off" challenge — which features two celebrities racing around a track one at a time to clock in at the best time — was between South African cricket player Kevin Pietersen and, as pointed out by Deadspin sports writer Lindsey Adler this week, free agent baseball player Brian Wilson.

Holy crap, Brian Wilson (the baseball one) has resurfaced on some British car show pic.twitter.com/QZZI2irvyA — Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) January 18, 2018

In the clip, Wilson and Pietersen are pitted against each other an an effort to find out, according to host Jeremy Clarkson, "who's the fastest person in the world who earns a living...from catching small balls."

A clean-shaven Wilson, true to character, emerges from backstage wearing hot pink loafers, a blazer with bright yellow flowers, a Hawaiian floral-printed hat, and a bright pink shirt with a picture of a fox on it arranged to invoke the phrase, "No fox given."

"That is a look you've got going there," Clarkson says to Wilson. Wilson later comments that, "This is a slow Tuesday, you should see me on the weekend."

In a brief interview before Clarkson shows the race footage, Wilson recounts the first two days after he got his license at age 16. The first day, he explains, he got a speeding ticket. "That was expected," he says.

Giants closer Brian Wilson watches as Atlanta players cross home plate in the tenth inning Sunday. Giants closer Brian Wilson watches as Atlanta players cross home plate in the tenth inning Sunday. Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Former Giant Brian Wilson's resurfaces with no beard and a new sport 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

On the second day, though, he immediately one-upped himself:

"It was 1 a.m., (and) apparently we had a curfew. I was supposed to be in bed by a certain time as a 16 year old. I'm thinking, 'No I don't.' So I rolled a stop sign and I see the blue lights and I think, 'I'm in a '94 Thunderbird. This is a V8 engine.' So I speed. Now I'm getting in a police chase. Now the adrenaline's going. I'm driving around my neighborhood and I accidentally hit an electrical box, power goes out and I feel really bad, but I left this guy in the dust. I got all the way to my driveway but because I turned the keys off — the car was automatic lights — so the cop just followed the lights and arrested me in my front yard, the driveway."

And it wasn't the first time Wilson was arrested because of his driving antics. He also recounts a time when he bought a former police car, and got pulled over driving it.

Saying the police thought he was impersonating an officer, Wilson claims the situation wasn't his fault. "I may have pulled my friend over," he says. "It was a joke."

After all that, Wilson ended up losing the timed run by an extremely slim margin: a third of a second.

"You have come a long way for nothing," Clarkson tells him after reading the results. Wilson's not bothered. Pointing to the livestock in a projected pastoral background behind him, he adds, "I came here for the sheep."

Season 2, episode 2 of "The Grand Tour" is streamable now on Amazon Prime.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.