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James Hoyt Wilhelm
New York Giants
Pitcher
Born: July 26, 1922, Huntersville, NC
Acquired: Purchased by the Boston Braves from Mooresville (North Carolina State), October 28, 1947
Major League Teams: New York Giants 1952-56; St. Louis Cardinals 1957; Cleveland Indians 1957-58; Baltimore Orioles 1958-62; Chicago White Sox 1963-68; California Angels 1969; Atlanta Braves 1969-70; Chicago Cubs 1970; Atlanta Braves 1971; Los Angeles Dodgers 1971-72
Hall of Fame Induction: 1985
Died: August 23, 2002, Sarasota, FL (age 80)
Hoyt Wilhelm served during World War II, seeing action at the Battle of the Bulge, before making his big league debut with the Giants in 1952 at the age of 29. On the strength of his resiliency and his knuckle ball, he went on to have a Hall of Fame career over the next 21 seasons, pitching until he was nearly 50 years old. His sole postseason action came in 1954 when his Giants swept the Indians in four games in the World Series. Wilhelm was an eight-time All-Star and his league's ERA leader in 1952 with the Giants and in 1959 with the Orioles. He threw a no-hitter with the Orioles in 1958 and 1959 was perhaps his best season as he appeared in 32 games and went 15-11 with a 2.19 ERA and a career-high 139 strikeouts. He appeared with nine different teams, spending the most time with the White Sox. Between 1963 and 1968 with the White Sox, Wilhelm went 41-33 with a 1.92 ERA and 99 saves. He was the oldest player in the majors between 1966 and his retirement in 1972.
Wilhelm holds the major league record for wins in relief (124) and he was also the first pitcher in major league history to reach the 200 save plateau and to appear in 1,000 games. For his career, Wilhelm was 143-122 in 1,070 games pitched (currently 6th all-time) with 228 saves (43rd) and 1,610 strikeouts. Upon his retirement, he had the lowest career ERA (2.52) of any pitcher since 1927 (Walter Johnson) to have pitched in at least 2,000 innings. He briefly managed in the minor leagues following his retirement, and then was a minor league pitching coach with the Yankees for 22 years. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 2002.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set
Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #41
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Walker Cooper (#273) post in January. Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and 16 from series three. This is the seventh of ten cards to come from the final series four. Wilhelm is one of eight Hall of Famers (or future Hall of Famers) from that Original 44 haul, along with Ed Mathews (#107), Yogi Berra (#110), Willie Mays (#130), Red Schoendienst (#165), Early Wynn (#187), Larry Doby (#250) and Bob Lemon (#255).
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Walker Cooper (#273) post in January. Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and 16 from series three. This is the seventh of ten cards to come from the final series four. Wilhelm is one of eight Hall of Famers (or future Hall of Famers) from that Original 44 haul, along with Ed Mathews (#107), Yogi Berra (#110), Willie Mays (#130), Red Schoendienst (#165), Early Wynn (#187), Larry Doby (#250) and Bob Lemon (#255).
The Card / Giants Team Set
Wilhelm appeared exclusively in the 1955 Bowman set, and this card marks his return to Topps after that one-year absence. The cartoons on the back focus on his knuckle ball, his workhorse reputation and his successful rookie campaign in 1952.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1952 Topps #392
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (20): 1952-54, 1956-72
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2023 Topps Archives 1969 Topps Team History Baseball Post Card Box Topper #H69-CHW
509 - Wilhelm non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/6/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
The Trading Card Database
Previous Card / Next Card
Order Collected: #293 Stu Miller - St. Louis Cardinals / #313 Gene Stephens - Boston Red Sox
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