Hoyt Wilhelm
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 10:19 am
We revere some baseball players. We place them on a pedestal. There is something about a player who does something better than any other player.
A Hall of Fame player usually falls into this category.
Also, it has been theorized that the age 27 year of a ball player is usually one of their best years. Supposedly, players at the apex of their physical abilities at age 27. Some fantasy baseball drafters will even push a player up their lists if a player is age 27.
This is the story of a player who never had an age 27 year. He also was not drafted in a fantasy baseball draft.
This is a story of a young man who was always generally thought by most, as an old man.
This is a story of a man who could not hit at all. Did not field well. And did not throw hard.
It's also the story of a man who is in the Hall of Fame.
Hoyt Wilhelm loved baseball. Loved everything about the game. When listening to a game on radio, he would wind up like the pitcher, then take a cut as if the hitter. But, as much as Hoyt loved the game, the game did not love him back. Young Hoyt did not possess the skills needed to play baseball. He was chubby, not fast. Athleticism was not a part of his genetics.
It did not deter young Hoyt. He would play on the streets or any organized team possible. Not caring that he was the last player picked for some teams.
In high school, Young Hoyt Wilhelm's life would be molded by the reading of one baseball article.
The article centered on July 4, 1939. It was about a doubleheader the Yankees had played that day. And it was during that day, that Lou Gehrig delivered his 'Luckiest Man on the Face of This Earth' speech.
But that was not what caught Wilhelm's attention.
The article would recapture what had happened in one of those two games.
Dutch Leonard had thrown a complete game victory over the mighty Yankees.
Using a 'trick pitch'. That pitch was the knuckleball.
Leonard had a nice Major League career using his trick pitch. Major league batters would call it a trick pitch because they thought that it was unfair. Back in the day, it was thought by most that a man gets another man out with a fast ball. A curveball was tolerated only because it had become popular as a different pitch by fans.
But a knuckle baller was seen as just outright trickery.
Something from Salem, brought by witches.
Leonard had a good career with the pitch. He would make six all-star appearances and sometimes even got proper respect from players.
Jackie Robinson- "What a knucleball that fellow has! It comes up, makes a face at you, then runs away!"
It was also a way for a boy to stay on his high school team and not get cut.
Young Hoyt started throwing knuckleballs exclusively. It became his natural way to throw a ball. He read anything at the local library pertaining to knuckleballs and would throw the pitch hundreds of times a day.
It all paid off.
Wilhelm became the school's best pitcher.
And after he finished high school, he was signed for next to nothing to play minor league baseball.
'Next to nothing' was better than nothing for Wilhelm.
He was at the age and time of his life when he really would have played for nothing.
Back in the day, signing with a minor league team was not the first step to the Big Leagues as it is now.
What it was, was a chance for men to continue playing a game, loved.
You can imagine the disappointment that young Wilhelm faced when he was sent home the very first day of minor league practice.
His team Manager did not believe in 'trick pitches'.
Hoyt had no fastball.
His Manager wondered why the team signed him at all and sent him packing home.
As luck would have it, the 'fast ballers' signed by the team got rocked.
The brass for the team sent word to Hoyt that he would be given a chance if he would come back to the team.
Young Hoyt was not one to hold grudges when it came to the game he loved. He left for the team as the letter hit the floor.
Hoyt won his first game. Then another. Then another. He won nine straight games.
At 19 years of age, young Hoyt thought himself so lucky.
He was playing the game he loved. Even getting paid for playing the game he loved.
It was 1942.
And at 19 years of age, something else happened to American boys who could get hitters out.
They joined in the war effort to stop Hitler.
Wilhelm joined the Army.
Young Hoyt exchanged baseballs for grenades.
Wilhelm served as an infantry soldier during World War II.
He was injured in the Battle of the Bulge and received the Purple Heart.
Wilhelm continued serving in the War till its conclusion and beyond.
Even admitting with a wry smile that he did throw grenades with his knuckleball grip.
He returned to his old minor league team in 1946. He was 23.
He opened some eyes by throwing many complete games.
Winning 21 games.
The next year, he would come back and win 20 games.
Those games caught the eyes of big league teams and Hoyt was drafted by the New York Giants.
In the Giants Minor League chain, Wilhelm faced ridicule.
A local paper even had a headline that Wilhelm would never go anywhere 'Throwing like a Washer Woman'.
Scouts were not kind to him as well. A typical scouting report sent to Giants offices would read, "Yes, he won the game, but he only has one pitch".
He would continually win games though. And that could not be overlooked.
For four years, Wilhelm worked and toiled at making Giants decision makers, believers in his knuckleball.
In 1952, at the age of 29, Hoyt Wilhelm was sent an invitation to come to Spring Training with the New York Giants.
Hoyt was a lucky man. He felt on top of the world.
And his luck would even get better. The Giants pitching was thin. He also had a Manager that believed in getting players out, no matter the method.
When the 1952 season began, Hoyt Wilhelm was a New York Giants pitcher.
He would start off with a BANG.
Hoyt Wilhelm, the kid with little athletic skills. The kid who could not hit. Who could not field. Who could not even throw hard. The kid with minimal athletic skills hit a home run in his very first Major League at bat.
He would have 432 Major League at bats and that would be his only home run. He also won that game.
Making him one of only three pitchers in baseball history to win a game while hitting a homer in their first at bat.
Wilhelm rocked the baseball world.
He went 15-3.
He Saved 11 games.
He led the league with 71 appearances.
He threw 159 innings. All in relief.
He finished second in Rookie Of The Year balloting to Joe Black.
The following year, he would lead the league again in appearances with 68 and was selected to the All-Star game roster.
His Manager in the All-Star game was Charlie Dressen. Dressen told Wilhelm that he would not get a chance to throw in the game. Roy Campanella was his catcher. He did not want Campy hurt or embarrassed by Wilhelm's knuckler.
In 1954 he appeared in his only World Series. The Willie Mays catch World Series.
He garnered a Save in that Series as the Giants swept the Indians.
After the '54 season, Wilhelm only had average seasons. He would be traded to the Cardinals. The Cardinals traded him to the Indians. And the Indians traded him to the Orioles.
Four years of average pitching had him changing uniforms four times.
The Orioles wanted to try something different with Wilhelm. Make him a Starter, not a reliever.
And like with the Giants, Wilhelm made a splash.
He threw a no-hitter in just his third game started with the club.
He won his first nine games and would, again, be selected to the All-Star game.
At the end of the year, Wilhelm led the American League with a 2.19 E.R.A.
Despite this, Baltimore would make him a reliever the following year.
A youth movement was needed in Baltimore as pitchers under the age of 22 were making their way to the Big Club.
A knuckler was not going to hold back Starters like Pappas, Estrada, and Fisher.
Wilhelm would Save over 40 games the next two years.
In 1963, at the age of 40, Wilhelm was traded to the Chicago White Sox.
He Saved 21 games for the Sox.
His best years may have come in Wilhelm's 40's.
From 1964-68, Wilhelm would Save many games and never had an E.R.A. above 2.00!
These were his age 42-46 years.
Afterwards, Wilhelm would kick the tires on several other teams before finally retiring just before his birthday at age 50.
No pitcher had pitched in more games than Hoyt Wilhelm.
1070 games.
During his career, he made the innings requirement to be listed among league leaders in E.R.A. twice.
And led his league both times. Seven years apart.
He threw 1,871 innings. IN RELIEF.
He was the first pitcher, considered a relief pitcher, to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
One more story about Wilhelm.
He was pitching in the 1961 All-Star game. It was the ninth inning and Yogi Berra was catching.
Berra called time out and went out to the mound and calling American League Manager, Paul Richards out of the dugout.
Berra told Richards upon reaching the mound that he felt awfully uncomfortable in catching Wilhelm's pitches.
Richards signalled Elston Howard to don the catchers gear.
The game resumed and Howard was charged with a passed ball, leading to a victory for the National League.
It was not unusual.
In every year, but one, for 16 years of Wilhelm's career, his catchers would lead the league in passed balls.
Wilhelm serves to every boy that if loving the game of baseball enough, there are ways to play it.
Even a kid with little in the way of athletic skills.
Wilhelm perservered through critics of his guile till almost the age of 30.
If ever there was a pitcher that is the total opposite of today's tall, well built pitchers who work out every day, so that they can stay in baseball, it is Hoyt Wilhelm.
When asked what he did to get ready for each coming baseball season, Wilhelm named three things.
Walking, hunting, and fishing.
Those were his 'workouts'.
We salute you Hoyt Wilhelm.
If any player did more with less, we don't know who it would be.
If having a boy who is wavering or even unsure of himself, tell him about Hoyt Wilhelm.
That a boy with a love for the game and few skills, can make it in this game.
And not only make it, but have a brilliant career, ending with selection to the Hall of Fame.
A Hall of Fame player usually falls into this category.
Also, it has been theorized that the age 27 year of a ball player is usually one of their best years. Supposedly, players at the apex of their physical abilities at age 27. Some fantasy baseball drafters will even push a player up their lists if a player is age 27.
This is the story of a player who never had an age 27 year. He also was not drafted in a fantasy baseball draft.
This is a story of a young man who was always generally thought by most, as an old man.
This is a story of a man who could not hit at all. Did not field well. And did not throw hard.
It's also the story of a man who is in the Hall of Fame.
Hoyt Wilhelm loved baseball. Loved everything about the game. When listening to a game on radio, he would wind up like the pitcher, then take a cut as if the hitter. But, as much as Hoyt loved the game, the game did not love him back. Young Hoyt did not possess the skills needed to play baseball. He was chubby, not fast. Athleticism was not a part of his genetics.
It did not deter young Hoyt. He would play on the streets or any organized team possible. Not caring that he was the last player picked for some teams.
In high school, Young Hoyt Wilhelm's life would be molded by the reading of one baseball article.
The article centered on July 4, 1939. It was about a doubleheader the Yankees had played that day. And it was during that day, that Lou Gehrig delivered his 'Luckiest Man on the Face of This Earth' speech.
But that was not what caught Wilhelm's attention.
The article would recapture what had happened in one of those two games.
Dutch Leonard had thrown a complete game victory over the mighty Yankees.
Using a 'trick pitch'. That pitch was the knuckleball.
Leonard had a nice Major League career using his trick pitch. Major league batters would call it a trick pitch because they thought that it was unfair. Back in the day, it was thought by most that a man gets another man out with a fast ball. A curveball was tolerated only because it had become popular as a different pitch by fans.
But a knuckle baller was seen as just outright trickery.
Something from Salem, brought by witches.
Leonard had a good career with the pitch. He would make six all-star appearances and sometimes even got proper respect from players.
Jackie Robinson- "What a knucleball that fellow has! It comes up, makes a face at you, then runs away!"
It was also a way for a boy to stay on his high school team and not get cut.
Young Hoyt started throwing knuckleballs exclusively. It became his natural way to throw a ball. He read anything at the local library pertaining to knuckleballs and would throw the pitch hundreds of times a day.
It all paid off.
Wilhelm became the school's best pitcher.
And after he finished high school, he was signed for next to nothing to play minor league baseball.
'Next to nothing' was better than nothing for Wilhelm.
He was at the age and time of his life when he really would have played for nothing.
Back in the day, signing with a minor league team was not the first step to the Big Leagues as it is now.
What it was, was a chance for men to continue playing a game, loved.
You can imagine the disappointment that young Wilhelm faced when he was sent home the very first day of minor league practice.
His team Manager did not believe in 'trick pitches'.
Hoyt had no fastball.
His Manager wondered why the team signed him at all and sent him packing home.
As luck would have it, the 'fast ballers' signed by the team got rocked.
The brass for the team sent word to Hoyt that he would be given a chance if he would come back to the team.
Young Hoyt was not one to hold grudges when it came to the game he loved. He left for the team as the letter hit the floor.
Hoyt won his first game. Then another. Then another. He won nine straight games.
At 19 years of age, young Hoyt thought himself so lucky.
He was playing the game he loved. Even getting paid for playing the game he loved.
It was 1942.
And at 19 years of age, something else happened to American boys who could get hitters out.
They joined in the war effort to stop Hitler.
Wilhelm joined the Army.
Young Hoyt exchanged baseballs for grenades.
Wilhelm served as an infantry soldier during World War II.
He was injured in the Battle of the Bulge and received the Purple Heart.
Wilhelm continued serving in the War till its conclusion and beyond.
Even admitting with a wry smile that he did throw grenades with his knuckleball grip.
He returned to his old minor league team in 1946. He was 23.
He opened some eyes by throwing many complete games.
Winning 21 games.
The next year, he would come back and win 20 games.
Those games caught the eyes of big league teams and Hoyt was drafted by the New York Giants.
In the Giants Minor League chain, Wilhelm faced ridicule.
A local paper even had a headline that Wilhelm would never go anywhere 'Throwing like a Washer Woman'.
Scouts were not kind to him as well. A typical scouting report sent to Giants offices would read, "Yes, he won the game, but he only has one pitch".
He would continually win games though. And that could not be overlooked.
For four years, Wilhelm worked and toiled at making Giants decision makers, believers in his knuckleball.
In 1952, at the age of 29, Hoyt Wilhelm was sent an invitation to come to Spring Training with the New York Giants.
Hoyt was a lucky man. He felt on top of the world.
And his luck would even get better. The Giants pitching was thin. He also had a Manager that believed in getting players out, no matter the method.
When the 1952 season began, Hoyt Wilhelm was a New York Giants pitcher.
He would start off with a BANG.
Hoyt Wilhelm, the kid with little athletic skills. The kid who could not hit. Who could not field. Who could not even throw hard. The kid with minimal athletic skills hit a home run in his very first Major League at bat.
He would have 432 Major League at bats and that would be his only home run. He also won that game.
Making him one of only three pitchers in baseball history to win a game while hitting a homer in their first at bat.
Wilhelm rocked the baseball world.
He went 15-3.
He Saved 11 games.
He led the league with 71 appearances.
He threw 159 innings. All in relief.
He finished second in Rookie Of The Year balloting to Joe Black.
The following year, he would lead the league again in appearances with 68 and was selected to the All-Star game roster.
His Manager in the All-Star game was Charlie Dressen. Dressen told Wilhelm that he would not get a chance to throw in the game. Roy Campanella was his catcher. He did not want Campy hurt or embarrassed by Wilhelm's knuckler.
In 1954 he appeared in his only World Series. The Willie Mays catch World Series.
He garnered a Save in that Series as the Giants swept the Indians.
After the '54 season, Wilhelm only had average seasons. He would be traded to the Cardinals. The Cardinals traded him to the Indians. And the Indians traded him to the Orioles.
Four years of average pitching had him changing uniforms four times.
The Orioles wanted to try something different with Wilhelm. Make him a Starter, not a reliever.
And like with the Giants, Wilhelm made a splash.
He threw a no-hitter in just his third game started with the club.
He won his first nine games and would, again, be selected to the All-Star game.
At the end of the year, Wilhelm led the American League with a 2.19 E.R.A.
Despite this, Baltimore would make him a reliever the following year.
A youth movement was needed in Baltimore as pitchers under the age of 22 were making their way to the Big Club.
A knuckler was not going to hold back Starters like Pappas, Estrada, and Fisher.
Wilhelm would Save over 40 games the next two years.
In 1963, at the age of 40, Wilhelm was traded to the Chicago White Sox.
He Saved 21 games for the Sox.
His best years may have come in Wilhelm's 40's.
From 1964-68, Wilhelm would Save many games and never had an E.R.A. above 2.00!
These were his age 42-46 years.
Afterwards, Wilhelm would kick the tires on several other teams before finally retiring just before his birthday at age 50.
No pitcher had pitched in more games than Hoyt Wilhelm.
1070 games.
During his career, he made the innings requirement to be listed among league leaders in E.R.A. twice.
And led his league both times. Seven years apart.
He threw 1,871 innings. IN RELIEF.
He was the first pitcher, considered a relief pitcher, to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
One more story about Wilhelm.
He was pitching in the 1961 All-Star game. It was the ninth inning and Yogi Berra was catching.
Berra called time out and went out to the mound and calling American League Manager, Paul Richards out of the dugout.
Berra told Richards upon reaching the mound that he felt awfully uncomfortable in catching Wilhelm's pitches.
Richards signalled Elston Howard to don the catchers gear.
The game resumed and Howard was charged with a passed ball, leading to a victory for the National League.
It was not unusual.
In every year, but one, for 16 years of Wilhelm's career, his catchers would lead the league in passed balls.
Wilhelm serves to every boy that if loving the game of baseball enough, there are ways to play it.
Even a kid with little in the way of athletic skills.
Wilhelm perservered through critics of his guile till almost the age of 30.
If ever there was a pitcher that is the total opposite of today's tall, well built pitchers who work out every day, so that they can stay in baseball, it is Hoyt Wilhelm.
When asked what he did to get ready for each coming baseball season, Wilhelm named three things.
Walking, hunting, and fishing.
Those were his 'workouts'.
We salute you Hoyt Wilhelm.
If any player did more with less, we don't know who it would be.
If having a boy who is wavering or even unsure of himself, tell him about Hoyt Wilhelm.
That a boy with a love for the game and few skills, can make it in this game.
And not only make it, but have a brilliant career, ending with selection to the Hall of Fame.
