Hoyt Wilhelm, baseball player, 1952-1972

Hoyt Wilhelm

⭐ Hall of Fame 1985

Born: 7/26/1922 in Huntersville, NC, USA

Died: 8/23/2002 in Sarasota, FL, USA

MLB Debut: 1952-04-18 | Final Game: 1972-07-10

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'0" | Weight: 190 lbs

Full name: James Hoyt Wilhelm

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Biography

Hoyt Wilhelm was a prominent American baseball pitcher whose career spanned from 1952 to 1972. Born in 1922, Wilhelm emerged as one of the most effective relief pitchers of his era, finishing his career with a record of 143-122 and an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 2.52. Over the course of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball, he recorded 1,610 strikeouts and amassed 227 saves, establishing himself as a pioneer in the role of the modern relief pitcher. His unique submarine pitching style and exceptional control set him apart, allowing him to thrive in an era that was increasingly defined by power hitting. Wilhelm's contributions to the game were recognized through his selection to the All-Star team seven times, showcasing his consistent excellence on the mound. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, solidifying his legacy as one of the great pitchers of his time. Throughout his career, Wilhelm not only excelled in his primary role but also influenced subsequent generations of pitchers with his innovative approach to the game. His achievements and longevity in Major League Baseball exemplified the evolution of pitching in the post-war era, making him a significant figure in baseball history.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
143 122 1070 52 20 5 227 2254.3 1757 632 150 778 1610 2.52 0

Career ERA 2.52 vs. league average 3.67 across their career seasons — 31.2% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1952 NY1 NL 15 3 71 0 0 0 11 159.3 127 43 57 108 2.43 3.70 (+34%) 2147.9
1953 NY1 NL 7 8 68 0 0 0 15 145.0 127 49 77 71 3.04 4.14 (+26%) -1181.1
1954 NY1 NL 12 4 57 0 0 0 7 111.3 77 26 52 64 2.10 3.90 (+46%) 1508.3
1955 NY1 NL 4 1 59 0 0 0 0 103.0 104 45 40 71 3.93 4.00 (+2%) 1378.4
1956 NY1 NL 4 9 64 0 0 0 8 89.3 97 38 43 71 3.83 3.96 (+3%) 1490.8
1957 STL NL 1 4 40 0 0 0 11 55.0 52 26 21 29 4.25 3.83 (-11%) -
1957 CLE AL 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 3.7 2 1 1 0 2.45 — 0.0
1958 CLE AL 2 7 30 6 1 0 5 90.3 70 25 35 57 2.49 3.86 (+35%) 2016.8
1958 BAL AL 1 3 9 4 3 1 0 40.7 25 9 10 35 1.99 3.86 (+48%) 1698.0
1959 BAL AL 15 11 32 27 13 3 0 226.0 178 55 77 139 2.19 3.90 (+44%) 4079.8
1960 BAL AL 11 8 41 11 3 1 7 147.0 125 54 39 107 3.31 3.82 (+13%) 2957.6
1961 BAL AL 9 7 51 1 0 0 18 109.7 89 28 41 87 2.30 4.03 (+43%) 3407.1
1962 BAL AL 7 10 52 0 0 0 15 93.0 64 20 34 90 1.94 3.96 (+51%) 3272.5
1963 CHW AL 5 8 55 3 0 0 21 136.3 106 40 30 111 2.64 3.46 (+24%) -
1964 CHW AL 12 9 73 0 0 0 27 131.3 94 29 30 95 1.99 3.58 (+44%) -
1965 CHW AL 7 7 66 0 0 0 20 144.0 88 29 32 106 1.81 3.50 (+48%) -
1966 CHW AL 5 2 46 0 0 0 6 81.3 50 15 17 61 1.66 3.52 (+53%) -
1967 CHW AL 8 3 49 0 0 0 12 89.0 58 13 34 76 1.31 3.30 (+60%) -
1968 CHW AL 4 4 72 0 0 0 12 93.7 69 18 24 72 1.73 2.98 (+42%) -
1969 LAA AL 5 7 44 0 0 0 10 65.7 45 18 18 53 2.47 3.61 (+32%) -
1969 ATL NL 2 0 8 0 0 0 4 12.3 5 1 4 14 0.73 3.61 (+80%) 667.2
1970 ATL NL 6 4 50 0 0 0 13 78.3 69 27 39 67 3.10 3.89 (+20%) 526.3
1970 CHC NL 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 3.7 4 4 3 1 9.82 — -
1971 ATL NL 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2.3 6 4 1 1 15.43 — 0.0
1971 LAD NL 0 1 9 0 0 0 3 17.7 6 2 4 15 1.02 3.47 (+71%) -
1972 LAD NL 0 1 16 0 0 0 1 25.3 20 13 15 9 4.62 3.26 (-41%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1070 432 24 38 3 1 1 21 0 26 166 0.088 0.139 0.106 0.246 -981.2

Career AVG .088 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — 65.1% below league average.

Career OBP .139 vs. league average .320 across their career seasons — 56.4% below league average.

Career SLG .106 vs. league average .378 across their career seasons — 71.8% below league average.

Career OPS 0.246 vs. league average 0.698 across their career seasons — 64.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1952 NY1 NL 71 38 4 6 0 0 1 2 0 1 11 0.158 — — — — 0.0
1953 NY1 NL 68 33 5 5 2 1 0 1 0 4 8 0.152 — — — — 0.0
1954 NY1 NL 57 21 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 8 0.048 — — — — 0.0
1955 NY1 NL 59 19 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0.158 — — — — 0.0
1956 NY1 NL 64 9 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.222 — — — — 0.0
1957 STL NL 40 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1957 CLE AL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1958 CLE AL 30 21 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 6 0.095 — — — — 0.0
1958 BAL AL 9 11 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.091 — — — — 0.0
1959 BAL AL 32 76 2 4 0 0 0 2 0 5 23 0.053 .256 (-79%) .323 (-66%) .392 (-87%) .715 (-77%) -981.2
1960 BAL AL 41 42 1 3 0 0 0 4 0 2 14 0.071 — — — — 0.0
1961 BAL AL 51 20 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 10 0.050 — — — — 0.0
1962 BAL AL 52 16 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 0.125 — — — — 0.0
1963 CHW AL 55 29 3 2 0 0 0 2 0 4 11 0.069 — — — — 0.0
1964 CHW AL 73 21 2 3 0 0 0 3 0 1 7 0.143 — — — — 0.0
1965 CHW AL 66 22 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 12 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1966 CHW AL 46 8 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.125 — — — — 0.0
1967 CHW AL 49 13 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 11 0.077 — — — — 0.0
1968 CHW AL 72 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1969 LAA AL 44 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1969 ATL NL 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1970 ATL NL 50 11 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 6 0.091 — — — — 0.0
1970 CHC NL 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1971 ATL NL 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1971 LAD NL 9 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1972 LAD NL 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1954 WS NY1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 0 2 0 1 2.3 1 0 0 3 0.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1954 WS NY1 0 0 2 0 1 2.3 1 0 0 3 0.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 1070 52 114 373 11 17

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1952 NY1 P 71 0 9 32 2 0
1953 NY1 P 68 0 11 19 1 1
1954 NY1 P 57 0 5 25 0 0
1955 NY1 P 59 0 6 28 1 2
1956 NY1 P 64 0 4 20 0 2
1957 SLN P 40 0 3 8 0 0
1957 CLE P 2 0 0 0 0 0
1958 CLE P 30 6 8 16 0 0
1958 BAL P 9 4 1 6 0 0
1959 BAL P 32 27 13 32 0 1
1960 BAL P 41 11 4 28 1 2
1961 BAL P 51 1 6 22 2 1
1962 BAL P 52 0 10 12 0 0
1963 CHA P 55 3 4 24 1 1
1964 CHA P 73 0 5 16 0 2
1965 CHA P 66 0 7 20 0 2
1966 CHA P 46 0 2 10 0 1
1967 CHA P 49 0 2 11 1 1
1968 CHA P 72 0 3 10 0 1
1969 CAL P 44 0 3 8 1 0
1969 ATL P 8 0 0 2 0 0
1970 ATL P 50 0 4 13 1 0
1970 CHN P 3 0 0 3 0 0
1971 ATL P 3 0 0 2 0 0
1971 LAN P 9 0 1 1 0 0
1972 LAN P 16 0 3 5 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 1070

Featured In Rankings

#12
Top 20 Closers of All Time in History of MLB Baseball
Ranked 12 of 20
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Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1964 Most Valuable Player AL 19th 8.0 280 0
1961 Most Valuable Player AL 24th 1.0 280 0
1954 Most Valuable Player NL 15th 17.0 336 0
1952 Most Valuable Player NL 4th 133.0 336 0
1952 Rookie of the Year NL 2nd 3.0 24 3