Hoyt Wilhelm - Career

Career

Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He returned to the Moors in 1946, following his military service.

The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Moorsville in 1947. On November 20, 1947, Wilhelm was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.

Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952. Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the National League with a 2.43 earned run average (ERA) in 1952. On April 23, 1952, in his second game with the New York Giants, Wilhelm came to the plate for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm swung and sliced a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Although he played 21 seasons and went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.

On February 26, 1957, Wilhelm was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for Whitey Lockman. On September 21, 1957, he was selected off waivers by the Cleveland Indians from the Cardinals.

In 1958, Cleveland manager Bobby Bragan used Wilhelm occasionally as a starter. Although he had a 2.49 ERA, none of the Indians' catchers could handle Wilhelm's knuckleball. General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958.

On September 20, 1958, Wilhelm threw a no-hitter against the New York Yankees. He allowed two baserunners on walks and struck out eight.

On August 6, 1959, Wilhelm nearly pitched a rare no-hitter in relief. Relieving Billy O'Dell at the start of the ninth inning, Wilhelm held the White Sox hitless for 8 2⁄₃ innings before finally surrendering a hit in the 17th. Only Ernie Shore ever fashioned a longer spell of no-hit relief, although Bobby Shantz pitched 9 no-hit innings in relief on 05/06/1949, when Connie Mack brought him into his second major league game to relieve with no outs in the 4th inning. Shantz no-hit the Tigers for 9 innings, yielding 2 hits in the 13th inning but winning the game.

Orioles catchers set an MLB record with 49 passed balls in 1959. However, he also won the American League ERA title with a 2.19 ERA. During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards kept Wilhelm in the rotation, and devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball.

On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith.

On October 15, 1968, Wilhelm was chosen in the 1968 expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals from the White Sox as the 49th pick. That offseason, he was traded by the Royals to the California Angels for Ed Kirkpatrick and Dennis Paepke. Wilhelm set MLB records with the most consecutive errorless games for a pitcher, games pitched for a relief pitcher, most career victories in relief, most games finished, most innings pitched in relief, and most games pitched during the 1968 season.

" had the best knuckleball you'd ever want to see. He knew where it was going when he threw it, but when he got two strikes on you, he'd break out one that even he didn't know where it was going."

On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm was traded by the Angels with Bob Priddy to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers. On September 21, 1970, he was selected off waivers by the Chicago Cubs, and then traded back by the Cubs to the Braves for Hal Breeden after the season. As the Cubs acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, which was a source of controversy, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn investigated the transaction.

Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10, 1971, but they released him on July 21, 1972. At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm pitched in a then-MLB record 1,070 games.