Hoyt Wilhelm

Hoyt Wilhelm’s intriguing baseball career lasted two decades. A veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, the eight-time All-Star from Huntersville, North Carolina, was a standout for the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves, though he did not reach the majors until he was nearly 30.
He pitched a no-hitter as a starter, won as many as 15 games a season, was the first reliever to win more than 100 games and save more than 200, and broke Cy Young’s record for most games on the mound. Along the way, he relied almost entirely on his baffling skill with a rare weapon of choice—the knuckleball. This first full-length biography covers the life and career of the first relief pitcher in the Hall of Fame.

Lew Freedman is a long-time, prize-winning journalist for such newspapers as the Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Anchorage Daily News and Wyoming’s Cody Enterprise. Specializing in sports and the outdoors, he has written more than 100 books. He lives in Columbus, Indiana.

Lew Freedman
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 218
Bibliographic Info: 11 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9206-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5100-2
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Introduction 3
1. A North Carolina Guy 7
2. From North Carolina to North Carolina 16
3. War 23
4. Starting Over 29
5. Minneapolis: Make It or Break It 35
6. The Majors at Last 42
7. A Hot Commodity 51
8. The World Series 60
9. Entrenched with New York 73
10. On to Other Teams 80
11. Lightning Strikes 88
12. Rebirth with Orioles 98
13. Trying to Make Sense of It 108
14. Out of Control 116
15. Hanging Tough with the Orioles 125
16. Good Company 134
17. Wilbur and Hoyt 143
18. White Sox and Still Going 155
19. A Thousand Games 165
20. Running Out of Teams 173
21. A Call from the Hall 181
Epilogue 189
Notes 195
Bibliography 203
Index 205