Happy Birthday (July 26) to Hoyt Wilhelm
Not only did Hoyt win 20-games back-to-back with the ’46 & ’47 Mooresville Moors, he would go on to win 252 games across his 28-year Major and Minor League career.
Happy Birthday to Huntersville, NC native and Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm. He would have been 97 today. Wilhelm was born in Huntersville on July 26, 1922.
Not only did Hoyt win 20-games back-to-back with the ’46 & ’47 Mooresville Moors, he would go on to win 252 games across his 28-year Major and Minor League career.
In his first MLB game, NY Giants pitcher Wilhelm entered the April 18, 1952 game in the bottom of the 2nd inning against the Brooklyn Dodgers. With a man on 1st and 3rd, Wilhelm gets Pee Wee Reese to hit a sac fly to center field scoring the runner on 3rd. He then gives up a double to Billy Cox putting a runner on 3rd and 2nd. He walks Jackie Robinson to load the bases and then with a 2-2 count on Roy Campanella, the knuckleballer throws a wild pitch scoring the runner on 3rd and all the runners move up a base. He then walks Campanella before being relieved.
In his 2nd Major League game, the very next day, Wilhelm faces the exact same Brooklyn batters entering the game for the Giants in the 8th inning. He gets Reese to flyout once again, walks Cox and then proceeds to pick him off at 1B, then hits Jackie Robinson with a pitch and finally gets Campanella to flyout for the final out.
Baseball-Reference: Hoyt Wilhelm’s HoF career stats