|
James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. After growing up in North Carolina and fighting in World War II, Wilhelm spent several years in the minor leagues before starting his MLB career. He was best known for his knuckleball, which enabled him to have great longevity. He appeared occasionally as a starting pitcher, but he pitched mainly as a specialist relief man, a role in which he won 124 games, still the record for relief pitchers. He was the first pitcher to reach 200 saves and the first to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm, who did not enter the major leagues until his late twenties, pitched until he was nearly 50 years old. Wilhelm retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages in baseball history. After retiring as a player in the early 1970s, he held coaching roles with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves for many years. He was a longtime resident of Sarasota, Florida, where he died in a nursing home of heart failure in 2002. ==Early life== Wilhelm was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina.〔 He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina.〔 There, he began experimenting with a knuckleball after reading about pitcher Dutch Leonard.〔 He felt that, because he could not throw fast, honing a knuckleball offered him his best shot at success.〔 He used a tennis ball to practice. Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942. He served in the United States Army in the European Theater during World War II. Wilhelm participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded, earning the Purple Heart for his actions.〔 He played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of this injury.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://baseballhall.org/hof/wilhelm-hoyt )〕 He rose to the rank of staff sergeant. Wilhem was nicknamed "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military. He returned to the Moors in 1946, following his military service. Over the 1946 and 1947 seasons, Wilhelm earned 41 wins with Mooresville.〔 He later recalled being dropped from a Class D minor league team and having the manager tell him to forget about the knuckleball, but he persisted with it.〔 The Boston Braves purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947. On November 20, 1947, Wilhelm was drafted by the New York Giants from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.〔 Wilhelm's first assignment in the Giants organization was in Class B with the 1948 Knoxville Smokies, for whom he registered 13 wins and 9 losses. He spent a few games that season with the Class A Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League. Wilhelm returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 win-loss record and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA). With the Class AAA Minneapolis Millers in 1950, Wilhelm was the starting pitcher in 25 of his 35 games pitched, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951 with Minneapolis, but his record finished at 11–14. Wilhelm had been used in a similar role that season, mostly starting games but also making eleven relief appearances.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hoyt Wilhelm」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|