Hoyt Wilhelm

Quotes From Wilhelm
"I don't even try to fool anybody. I just throw the knuckleball 85 to 90 percent of the time. You don't need variations, because the damn ball jumps around so crazily, it's like having a hundred pitches." — Wilhelm, in 1969

Played For
New York Giants (1952-1956)
St. Louis Cardinals (1957)
Cleveland Indians (1957-1958)
Baltimore Orioles (1958-1962)
Chicago White Sox (1963-1968)
California Angels (1969)
Atlanta Braves (1969-1970)
Chicago Cubs (1970)
Atlanta Braves (1971)
Los Angeles Dodgers (1971-1972)

All-Time Rankings
Hoyt Wilhelm ranks #3 among the Top 50 all-time at RP. Rankings ⇒

Best Season: 1965
Wilhelm had a lot of very, very fine seasons. His '65 campaign was for the ChiSox, for whom he saved 20 games and won seven. He posted a nasty 1.81 ERA (nearly one and a half runs below the league norm), pitching 144 innings in 66 relief appearances. Most impressively, he allowed just 88 hits and 32 walks in the 144 innings, striking out 106 batters.

Factoids
Hoyt Wilhelm and Earl Averill are the only Hall of Famers to hit a home run in their first ML at-bat.

Hoyt Wilhelm's no-hitter for the Orioles against New York in 1958, was the only no-hitter pitched against the Yankees for 45 years, until five Expos' hurlers blanked them in 2003.

The Link
Wilhelm was 28-years old when he finally broke into the majors in 1952, and he stuck around until 1972. Over that stretch his career linked some of baseball's great players. With the Giants in '52, Wilhelm faced Dutch Leonard, pitching for the Cubs. Leonard had faced Babe Ruth. Wilhelm would pitch against Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Frank Robinson, and Mickey Mantle. He would also face Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, and Rod Carew. His teammates ranged from Bob Elliott, Sal Maglie, Stan Musial and Willie Mays, to Ralph Garr, Dusty Baker, Rowland Office and Steve Garvey. He played with Billy Rigney and Bobby Valentine - whom would debut as managers 30 years apart.

Where He Played
Relief pitcher. Wilhelm started just 52 games in his long career

Born
James Hoyt Wilhelm was born on July 26, 1922, in Huntersville, NC.

Died
August 23, 2002, Sarasota, FL

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  P

Primary Team:  CHA

Major League Debut
April 19, 1952

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1952
Eddie Mathews
Dick Groat
Harvey Kuenn
Johnny Temple
Jim Rivera
Hoyt Wilhelm
Ron Kline
Stu Miller
Dusty Rhodes

Uniform Numbers
#49 (1952-1956), #25 (1957 Cardinals), #26 (1957-1958 Indians), #15 (1958-1962), #31 (1963-1968, 1971 Dodgers, 1972), #39 (1969 Angels - 1971 Braves)

Similar Players
Dutch Leonard, Phil Niekro

Related Players
Dutch Leonard (the second Dutch Leonard), a knuckleballer who was still pitching when Wilhelm debuted in 1952... Phil Niekro, who took over the role as baseball's best knuckleballer when Wilhelm retired... Ted Williams and Enos Slaughter, fellow Hall of Famers who passed away within seven weeks of Wilhelm's death in 2002... Lou Brock, Slaughter and Arky Vaughan were also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985, with Wilhelm.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1978 BBWAA 158 41.7% 1979 BBWAA 168 38.9% 1980 BBWAA 209 54.3% 1981 BBWAA 238 59.4% 1982 BBWAA 236 56.9% 1983 BBWAA 243 65.0% 1984 BBWAA 290 72.0% 1985 BBWAA 331 83.8%

No-Hitter
9/20/1958: For BAL (A) vs. NY (A), 1-0 at BAL. 9 innings pitched.

Post-Season Appearances
1954 World Series

Post-Season Notes
On September 8, 1969, the Braves acquired Wilhelm from the Angels. Because the deal occurred after September 1, Wilhelm wasn't eligible for the post-season. The right-handed veteran saved four and won two with Atlanta, surrendering just one run and five hits in 12 1/3 innings. The Braves won the division by three games over the Giants before being swept by the Mets in the playoffs. They blew a one-run eighth inning lead in Game One. (Thanks to SABR member Joe Dimino)

Transactions
Before 1948 Season: Sent from the Mooresville (North Carolina State) to the New York Giants in an unknown transaction; February 26, 1957: Traded by the New York Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman; September 21, 1957: Selected off waivers by the Cleveland Indians from the St. Louis Cardinals; August 23, 1958: Selected off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles from the Cleveland Indians; January 14, 1963: Traded by the Baltimore Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson, and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith; October 15, 1968: Drafted by the Kansas City Royals from the Chicago White Sox as the 49th pick in the 1968 expansion draft; December 12, 1968: Traded by the Kansas City Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke; September 8, 1969: Traded by the California Angels with Bob Priddy to the Atlanta Braves for Mickey Rivers and Clint Compton; September 21, 1970: Selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs from the Atlanta Braves; November 30, 1970: Traded by the Chicago Cubs to the Atlanta Braves for Hal Breeden; June 29, 1971: Released by the Atlanta Braves; July 10, 1971: Signed as a Free Agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers; July 21, 1972: Released by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

All-Star Selections
1953 NL
1959 AL
1961 AL
1962 AL
1970 NL

Best Strength as a Player
His knuckleball. Wilhelm had great command of the pitch, despite its' movement.

Largest Weakness as a Player
He was a dismal hitter, batting .088 (38-for-432) with five extra-base hits in 21 years!

Learn More about Hoyt Wilhelm
Search Amazon.com for Books about Hoyt Wilhelm ⇒
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View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒