OUR MUSEUM IN ACTION
HOYT WILHELM RECORD 907TH CAREER GAME GLOVE
You can honor one of baseball’s greatest by helping fund the work that will preserve this symbol of excellence for today’s generation and the next.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Hoyt Wilhelm earned the title of hero well before he stepped foot on a big league mound.
The Huntersville, N.C. native served in the Army during World War II, receiving the Purple Heart after his back and right hand - his throwing hand - were struck by shrapnel from a German artillery blast. Amazingly, Wilhelm would pitch his entire career with metal in his back.
After spending seven seasons in the minors, Wilhelm made an immediate impact in the 1952 New York Giants bullpen, as he led the major leagues in win percentage, earned run average and appearances. After five seasons with New York, Wilhelm would spend the next two seasons between Cleveland and St. Louis before being selected off of waivers by Baltimore in August 1958.
Wilhelm started 27 games with the Baltimore Orioles during the 1959 season, in which he won his second ERA title (2.19). While he would spend most of his career in the bullpen, this season saw more than half of Wilhelm's 52 career starts. In his 21-year tenure, he amassed 228 saves while sporting a career 2.52 ERA.
After five successful seasons in Baltimore, Wilhelm was part of a package deal sending him to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for future Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio and Al Smith.
On July 24, 1968, in a 1-0 White Sox loss to the Oakland Athletics, Wilhelm stepped to the mound in relief for his 907th career game, throwing a scoreless ninth inning and passing Cy Young for the all-time record for appearances by a pitcher. Downplaying the incredible feat of longevity, Wilhelm told Sport, “The next 900 won’t be so tough.”
While he was unable to reach 1,800, Wilhelm retired after the 1972 season with 1,070 appearances at the remarkable age of 49, just five days shy of his 50th birthday. Wilhelm was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, becoming the first reliever to be enshrined in Cooperstown. His legacy was bolstered by a single pitch: the knuckleball. The easy-on-the-arm, hard-to-master pitch was a defining feature of Wilhelm’s 20-year career.
"He had the best knuckleball you'd ever want to see," 1983 Hall of Fame Inductee Brooks Robinson said. "He knew where it was going when he threw it, but when he got two strikes on you, he'd break out one that even he didn't know where it was going."
Today, Wilhelm's glove used during his record-breaking appearance is part of the Hall of Fame's collection and needs conservation. With your support, this artifact will continue to connect generations of fans. Please consider making a gift today.