Editing Hoyt Wilhelm (section)

==Early life==
Wilhelm was born in 1922, long thought to have been 1923.{{efn|Biographer Mark Armour notes that Wilhelm's birth year was erroneously believed to be 1923 until he died and his birth certificate was examined.<ref name=SABR/>}} He was one of eleven children born to poor [[tenant farmers]] John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in [[Huntersville, North Carolina]].<ref name=SABR /><ref name=Legend>{{cite web|title=Remembering a Huntersville legend|url=http://www.huntersvilleherald.com/news/2011/7/14/2346/remembering-a-huntersville-legend|publisher=[[The Herald Weekly]]|access-date=January 16, 2015|date=July 14, 2011|archive-date=January 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120125723/http://www.huntersvilleherald.com/news/2011/7/14/2346/remembering-a-huntersville-legend|url-status=live}}</ref> He played baseball at Cornelius High School in [[Cornelius, North Carolina]].<ref name=br/> Knowing he could not throw fast, he began experimenting with a [[knuckleball]] after reading about pitcher [[Dutch Leonard (right-handed pitcher)|Dutch Leonard]].<ref name=obituary/> He practiced honing it with a tennis ball,<ref name="obitnyt">{{cite news|last=Lueck|first=Thomas|title=Hoyt Wilhelm, first reliever in the Hall of Fame, dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/25/sports/hoyt-wilhelm-first-reliever-in-the-hall-of-fame-dies.html|access-date=November 11, 2010|newspaper=New York Times|date=August 25, 2002|archive-date=January 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125193727/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/25/sports/hoyt-wilhelm-first-reliever-in-the-hall-of-fame-dies.html|url-status=live}}</ref> hoping it was his best shot at Big League success.<ref name=hallbio />

[[File:James Hoyt Wilhelm Commemorative Statue.jpg|thumb|''James Hoyt Wilhelm Commemorative Statue'' outside Huntersville Athletic Park in Huntersville, NC]]

Wilhelm made his professional debut with the [[Mooresville Moors]] of the [[Class D (baseball)|Class-D]] [[North Carolina State League]] in 1942. He served in the [[United States Army]] in the [[European Theatre of World War II|European Theater]] during World War II and participated in the [[Battle of the Bulge]], where he was wounded, earning the [[Purple Heart]] for his actions.<ref name=obituary/><ref>{{cite book |title=If They Hadn't Gone: How World War II Affected Major League Baseball |pages=150–152 |first=Thomas E. |last=Allen |year=2004 |publisher=[[Southwest Missouri State University]] |location=Springfield, Missouri |isbn=0-9748190-2-6 }}</ref> He rose to the rank of [[staff sergeant]] while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of [[Fragmentation (weaponry)|shrapnel]] lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle.<ref name=hallbio>{{cite web |title=HOYT WILHELM |url=http://baseballhall.org/hof/wilhelm-hoyt |publisher=[[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum]] |access-date=June 3, 2015 |archive-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214105225/http://baseballhall.org/hof/wilhelm-hoyt |url-status=live }}</ref> Wilhelm carried the nickname "Old Sarge" because of his service in the military.<ref name="obitnyt"/>

After his release from the military, Wilhelm returned to the Moors for the 1946 season, and earned 41 wins over the 1946 and 1947 seasons.<ref name=Legend/> 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.<ref name=Rosenstein/> The [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]] purchased Wilhelm from Mooresville in 1947,<ref name=br>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilheho01.shtml|title=Hoyt Wilhelm Statistics and History|work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=November 1, 2011|archive-date=April 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427093817/http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilheho01.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> and on November 20, 1947, he was drafted by the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] from the Braves in the 1947 minor league draft.<ref name=br/>

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 also spent a few games that season with the Class A [[Jacksonville Tars]] of the [[South Atlantic League (1946–63)|South Atlantic League]], and returned to Jacksonville in 1949, earning a 17–12 [[win–loss record]] and a 2.66 [[earned run average]] (ERA). Wilhelm was promoted to the Class AAA [[Minneapolis Millers]] in 1950, where he was the [[starting pitcher]] in 25 of the 35 games he pitched in, registering a 15–11 record with a 4.95 ERA. His role in 1951 with the Millers was the same as the year before, primarily as a starter, but also making eleven relief appearances.<ref name=br/> His ERA came down to 3.94 in 1951, but his record fell to 11–14.