Hoyt Wilhelm---3

[Puttingood]

On April 22, 1952, Hoyt Wilhelm won his first major league game as a relief pitcher. This alone is worthy of our selection for Autograph of the Week as Wilhelm would later become the first relief pitched inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

However, the reason Baseball Almanac has chosen this legend is because on that same date Wilhelm hit his first AND LAST major league home run at the Polo Grounds in his first major league at-bat! Wilhelm would have a 21-year big-league career, appear in more than one-thousand major league games, and never hit another home run.

 

[Puttingood]

Debut April 19, 1952
Debut April 19, 1952
Born July 26, 1923 in Huntersville, NC

 

[APPLEJACK]

I had the privilege of meeting him.

 

[Ice Man]

I'll have to check my autographs but I think I may actually have his. I have several old timers autographs. They used to be at baseball card shows. Bob Feller actually had a conversation with me and I was about 11 years old at the time. Better than the current crop of players who make you pay for their autographs.

 

[Puttingood]

I have a baseball autographed for free at a Knights game. Catfish and Enos is on it too.
My dad played with Hoyt and against him. Hoyt was a class act. Came to my dads funeral in 53 and always called and checked on us kids over the years till my mom re-married and he knew we were taken care of.
Being a good person came natural to him.