Sports Heroes Who Served: Baseball Hall of Famer Served in World War II

Baseball Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm pitched for 10 Major League Baseball teams from 1952 to 1972 and was on the World Series winning New York Giants team in 1954.

He was born in Huntersville, North Carolina, in 1922 and in 1942, he was signed to play by the Mooresville Moors baseball team of the North Carolina State League.

But his baseball career was put on hold when he entered military service with the Army at Camp Croft, South Carolina, on Nov. 23, 1942.

Wilhelm saw combat in Europe with the 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division and was awarded the Purple Heart Medal for wounds received during the Battle of the Bulge.

Before being discharged in 1946, Wilhelm attained the rank of staff sergeant. He would go on to have a long baseball career, despite having to play with shrapnel lodged in his back from being wounded in combat.

Upon returning home from Europe, Wilhelm returned to the Mooresville team as a winning pitcher.

The New York Giants took notice and in 1947 signed him on to their minor league team, the Knoxville Smokies. He continued to pitch well, and the team called him up to the major league in 1952.

His teammates referred to him as "Old Sarge" because of his Army war record, and this nickname would endure throughout his baseball career.

Wilhelm's claim to fame as a pitcher was his hard-to-hit knuckleball.

Longevity is another of his achievements, retiring from baseball in 1972, within 16 days of turning 50. Other career highlights include his pitching a no-hitter against the New York Yankees while playing for the Baltimore Orioles in 1958 and he was an eight-time All-Star during his major league career.

Following his retirement as a major league player, Wilhelm coached minor league teams of the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves

In 1985, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, having played for 10 major league teams:

• New York Giants, 1952-1956
• St. Louis Cardinals, 1957
• Cleveland Indians, 1957-1958
• Baltimore Orioles, 1958-1962
• Chicago White Sox, 1963-1968
• California Angels, 1969
• Atlanta Braves, 1969-1970
• Chicago Cubs, 1970
• Atlanta Braves, 1971
• Los Angeles Dodgers, 1971-1972
  
  Hoyt Wilhelm

  Hoyt Wilhelm coaches the Nashville Sounds, a New York Yankees minor league team, from 1982 to 1984. He is pictured here in 1983.

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  Credit: Courtesy photo

  VIRIN: 830801-O-D0439-001A

Following retirement from baseball in the 1990s, Wilhelm and his wife Peggy and their three children, Patti, Pam and Jim, moved to Sarasota, Florida. Wilhelm died of heart failure in a Sarasota nursing home in 2002, at age 80.