Editing Hoyt Wilhelm (section)

===Early years===
Though Wilhelm was primarily a starting pitcher in the minor leagues, he had been called up to a Giants team whose strong starting pitchers had led them to a [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL) pennant the year before. Giants manager [[Leo Durocher]] did not think that Wilhelm's knuckleball approach would be effective for more than a few innings at a time. He assigned Wilhelm to the team's bullpen.<ref name="ArmourLevitt2004">{{cite book|last1=Armour|first1=Mark L.|last2=Levitt|first2=Daniel R.|title=Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0CmV1N3fU94C&pg=PA101|access-date=January 24, 2015|date=February 1, 2004|publisher=[[Potomac Books]]|isbn=978-1-57488-805-8|page=101}}</ref>

Wilhelm made his MLB debut with the Giants on April 18, 1952, at age 29, giving up a [[hit (baseball)|hit]] and two [[base on balls|walks]] while only recording one out.<ref name=BR52>{{cite web|title=Hoyt Wilhelm 1952 pitching gamelogs|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=wilheho01&t=p&year=1952|website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 29, 2015|archive-date=August 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814203407/http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=wilheho01&t=p&year=1952|url-status=live}}</ref> On April 23, 1952, in his third game with the New York Giants,<ref name=BR52/> Wilhelm batted for the first time in the majors. Facing rookie [[Dick Hoover (baseball)|Dick Hoover]] of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the [[Polo Grounds]]. Although he went to bat a total of 432 times in his career, he never hit another home run.<ref name=Jaffe>{{cite web|last=Jaffe|first=Chris|title=60th anniversary: Hoyt Wilhelm's only homer|url=http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/60th-anniversary-hoyt-wilhelms-only-homer/|work=TheHardballTimes.com|date=April 23, 2012 |access-date=May 6, 2012|archive-date=May 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510174351/http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/60th-anniversary-hoyt-wilhelms-only-homer/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Pitching exclusively in relief, Wilhelm led the NL with a 2.43 ERA in his rookie year. He won 15 games and lost three. Wilhelm finished fourth in the NL [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player Award]] voting that season, behind rookie reliever [[Joe Black]] of the Dodgers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1952.shtml|title=1952 Awards Voting|website=Baseball-Reference.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-16|archive-date=March 29, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329092634/http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1952.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Jim Konstanty]] had won it for the Phillies in 1950,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1950.shtml|title=1950 Awards Voting|website=Baseball-Reference.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-16|archive-date=February 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223193441/http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1950.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> and Ellis Kinder had finished seventh in the AL voting in 1951,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1951.shtml|title=1951 Awards Voting|website=Baseball-Reference.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-16|archive-date=February 28, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228204857/http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1951.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters. Wilhelm finished second in the [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year Award]] voting to Joe Black. Wilhelm made 69 relief appearances in 1953, his win–loss record decreased to 7–8 and he issued 77 walks against 71 [[strikeout]]s.<ref name=br/> Wilhelm was named to the NL All-Star team that year, but he did not play in the game because team manager [[Charlie Dressen]] did not think that any of the catchers could handle his knuckleball.<ref name=Armour>{{cite book|last1=Armour|first1=Mark|last2=Levitt|first2=Daniel|title=Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way|date=2004|publisher=[[Potomac Books]]|isbn=1574888056|pages=101–102|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0CmV1N3fU94C&pg=PA102|access-date=January 19, 2015|archive-date=April 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409004934/https://books.google.com/books?id=0CmV1N3fU94C&pg=PA102|url-status=live}}</ref> The Giants renewed Wilhelm's contract in February 1954.<ref name=Contracts>{{cite news|title=Five Giants ink 1954 contracts|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19540208&id=hiUeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6333,4258279|access-date=January 22, 2015|work=[[The Tuscaloosa News]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=February 8, 1954|archive-date=November 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106103824/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19540208&id=hiUeAAAAIBAJ&pg=6333%2C4258279|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1954, Wilhelm was a key piece of the pitching staff that led the 1954 Giants to a world championship.<ref name=Gettysburg/> He pitched 111&nbsp;innings, finishing with a 12–4 record and a 2.10 ERA.<ref name=Armour/> During one of Wilhelm's appearances that season, catcher [[Ray Katt]] committed four [[passed ball]]s in one inning to set the major league record; the record has subsequently been tied twice.<ref name="autogenerated5">{{Cite news |last=Duffey |first=Gene |date=August 7, 2013 |title=Red Sox catcher Ryan Lavarnway ties big league record with four passed balls |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130806&content_id=56093818&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112162748/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130806&content_id=56093818&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb |archive-date=January 12, 2014 |access-date=September 27, 2013 |work=MLB.com}}</ref> When [[Stan Musial]] set a record by hitting five home runs in a [[Doubleheader (baseball)|doubleheader]] that year, Wilhelm was pitching in the second game and gave up two of the home runs.<ref name=Musial>{{cite web|title=Musial was gentleman killer|url=https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/Musial_Stan.html|first=Larry|last=Schwartz|publisher=[[ESPN]]|access-date=January 20, 2015|archive-date=July 12, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712093843/http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Musial_Stan.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[1954 World Series]] represented Wilhelm's only career postseason play.<ref name=br/> He pitched {{frac|2|1|3}} innings over two games, earning a save in the third game.<ref name=WS54>{{cite web|title=1954 World Series|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1954_WS.shtml|website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 25, 2015|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112042329/https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1954_WS.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> The team won the World Series in a four-game sweep.<ref name=Gettysburg>{{cite news|last1=Eck|first1=Frank|title=Ace reliefers (sic) kept Indians in 1955 race|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=19550927&id=wIg1AAAAIBAJ&pg=4042,2347358|access-date=January 20, 2015|work=[[Gettysburg Times]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=September 27, 1955|archive-date=November 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106103824/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=19550927&id=wIg1AAAAIBAJ&pg=4042%2C2347358|url-status=live}}</ref>

Wilhelm's ERA increased to 3.93 over 59 games and 103 innings pitched in 1955, but he managed a 4–1 record. He finished the 1956 season with a 4–9 record and a 3.83 ERA in {{frac|89|1|3}} innings.<ref name=br/> Sportswriter Bob Driscoll later attributed Wilhelm's difficulties in the mid-1950s to the decline in the career of Giants catcher [[Wes Westrum]], writing that baseball was "a game of inches, and for Hoyt, Wes had been that inch in the right direction."<ref name=Driscoll>{{cite news|last1=Driscoll|first1=Bob|title=Hoyt Wilhelm: From skids to stardom|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19590830&id=1TIsAAAAIBAJ&pg=5464,4282741|access-date=January 20, 2015|work=[[Spartanburg Herald-Journal]]|date=August 30, 1959|archive-date=November 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106103824/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19590830&id=1TIsAAAAIBAJ&pg=5464%2C4282741|url-status=live}}</ref>