Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm Dies

Yahoo! News ^ | 23 August 2002 | Associated Press

[BluesDuke]

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - Knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, the first reliever elected to the Hall of Fame and the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the New York Yankees, has died.

Wilhelm died Friday, but the cause of death was not released. Baseball records listed him at 79 years old, though the funeral home handling the arrangements said he was 80.

Wilhelm played from 1952 and 1972 and when he retired, he held the major league record for games pitched at 1,070. Jesse Orosco and Dennis Eckersley have since passed that mark.

While known for his fluttering pitch — it was because of him that catchers began using an oversized mitt — Wilhelm had a smashing debut as a big leaguer.

On April 23, 1952, Wilhelm hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, connecting for the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. That turned out to be Wilhelm's only career homer.

Wilhelm was 143-122 with 227 saves and a 2.52 ERA for nine teams. He played mostly for the Giants, Baltimore and the Chicago White Sox.

Wilhelm was elected to the Hall in 1985. Rollie Fingers is the only other reliever in the Hall.

Though he made his mark as a reliever, his best game came as a starter. On Sept. 20, 1958, while with the Baltimore Orioles, he pitched a no-hitter against the Yankees at old Memorial Stadium.

Born as James Hoyt Wilhelm, he is the third Hall of Famer to die in the last two months. Ted Williams and Enos Slaughter also died.

Wilhelm began experimenting with his unorthodox pitch after reading a story about knuckleballer Dutch Leonard while playing high school ball in his hometown of Huntersville, N.C.

Wilhelm, who won a Purple Heart at the Battle of the Bulge, got a late start to his major league career. He was in his late 20s when the Giants decided to give him a chance in their bullpen in 1952.

The Giants were glad they did, as the rookie went 15-3 with 11 saves and a league-leading 2.43 ERA in 71 relief appearances.

A year after his no-hitter, the Orioles kept Wilhelm in the starting rotation. He went 15-11 and led the AL with a 2.19 ERA — it was the last year in his career in which Wilhelm did not record a save.

Orioles catchers, however, had a tough time handling Wilhelm's dancing knuckler that year. They set a modern record with 49 passed balls in 1959.

The next year, on May 27, 1960, Baltimore catcher Clint Courtney broke out an oversized mitt designed by Orioles manager Paul Richards.

Wilhelm also pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland, California, Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles. He pitched for the final time on July 21, 1972, for the Dodgers.

Wilhelm is survived by a son, two daughters, two brothers and six sisters. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at Wiegand Brothers Funeral Home in Sarasota.

[BluesDuke]

You read it right - one of baseball's signature relief pitchers, once upon a time a starter, was the last man to no-hit the mighty Yankees. To my knowledge, then-Oriole catcher Gus Triandos still holds the single-person passed balls record thanks to catching (or trying to catch) Wilhelm's butterfly pitch (remember when they called the knuckleballer the butterfly?)...

He was a remarkable pitcher. And, from what I've been told, a remarkable man, never shy about passing pitching tips on to the next generations. Au revoir, Kaiser Wilhelm!

[BluesDuke]

*memorial bump*

61*. The line the Oriole manager gave him to start his pitching turn was a line actual Oriole manager Paul Richards did say to Wilhelm before he began his warmups on the mound: Throw him anything but a knuckleball and I'll fine you $500.

[BluesDuke]

*memorial bump*...and proper posting (bloody program!)

Note, too: It was Hoyt Wilhelm whom the Orioles brought in late in the game to stop Roger Maris from nailed home run number 60 in 1961's 154th game, the arbitrary and prejudicial "deadline" set by then-Commissioner Ford Frick for anyone to tie or break Ruthsrecord (yes, they spoke of it such that it could have been one word) "legitimately". Tom Candiotti, a fine knuckleballer of the 1980s and 1990s, portrayed Wilhelm for that sequence in Billy Crystal's film of the Maris-Mantle home run chase, 61*. The line the Oriole manager gave him to start his pitching turn was a line actual Oriole manager Paul Richards did say to Wilhelm before he began his warmups on the mound: Throw him anything but a knuckleball and I'll fine you $500.

[Chairman Fred]

The first major league baseball game I ever attended was on August 10, 1963 at old Comiskey Park. Hoyt Wilhelm finished the game for the White Sox. (The Sox beat the Yankees, 2-1.)

It's already a sad year for baseball, losing first Ted Williams and now Hoyt Wilhelm. And the worst may be just ahead.

[Molly Pitcher]

Thanks for the post. I was lucky enough to watch Wilhelm and his dancing knuckleball when he played at old Comiskey Park.

The mit the catcher used! It was HUGE!

[Bruce Kurtz]

I remember him when I was a kid. It's amazing he pitched 20 years considering he did not go pro until his late 20s. My brother pitched semi-pro and he was a knuckleballer. One time we were just fooling around and he started throwing his knuckle ball. At first it was kind of neat, but then the balls starting breaking in any old direction a couple feet from my face, then that was it. I now know why, catchers of knuckleball pitchers use big gloves.

Bruce Kurtz

[johnboy]

as i have opined heretofore, you are uncommonly knowledgeable about music.

but, on sports, you are incoherent.

[socal_parrot]

Sad news. I forget who gave the advice on the best way to catch a knuckleball, "Wait 'til it stops rolling and pick it up".

[WarrenC]

So Wilhelm pitched til he was nearly 50 - the knuckleball is an amazing pitch - puts no stress on the arm so the pitcher can give a lot of innings and pitch well into his 40s as a number of others have. I hadn't known about his war record. Sounds like a well lived life. RIP Mr. Wilhelm.

[hole_n_one]

[Dog Gone]

I grew up thinking that guy was so cool. First I heard that he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, though.

Farewell, Hoyt.

[BluesDuke]

I'm not entirely certain, but I believe that big mitt - it was called the "pillow glove" - has since been banned.

[BluesDuke]

as i have opined heretofore, you are uncommonly knowledgeable about music.

but, on sports, you are incoherent.

Your evidence, please.

[BluesDuke]

So Wilhelm pitched til he was nearly 50...

And Jesse Orosco is threatening to... *grin*

[BluesDuke]

If I'm not mistaken, Warren Spahn was another Hall of Fame pitcher who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Not to mention Yogi Berra being on a Navy gunboat in the Mediterranean (this was before he had ever been brought up by the Yankees) and Lew Brissie, subsequently a courageous starter and reliever for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians, having his leg nearly blown off in a ground battle (he was the only survivor of his platoon from that battle), then having it surgically rebuilt (he begged his doctors to save the leg because he had a pre-war promise from Connie Mack for a tryout) and braced so he could pitch. Those are just some of the World War II battle stories I know of involving baseball players (Ted Williams, of course, was mostly a flight instructor for World War II but flew up a storm in the Korean War)...

[BluesDuke]

It's already a sad year for baseball, losing first Ted Williams and now Hoyt Wilhelm. And the worst may be just ahead.

You forgot Enos Slaughter. And without wishing any ill on anyone, I wonder - from what I saw of him at the All-Star Game ceremonies - how much life Warren Spahn has left in him.

[jackbill]

I was able to see Hoyt many times at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. He was a gem.

[Dog Gone]

Don't forget that we just lost Johnny Roseboro this week, too.

[RichardW]

I remember him when he pitched for the Cardinals. He was in a class by himself. Definitely belonged in the Hall of Fame. That ERA is almost unbelievable.

[BluesDuke]

When he mentioned Teddy Ballgame and Wilhelm I assumed he was alluding strictly to Hall of Famers. No slight intended against Roseboro, about whom, you may remember, I wrote a piece earlier in the week...John Roseboro, RIP: Forgiveness Incarnate