James Hoyt Wilhelm (July 26, 1922 – August 23, 2002), nicknamed "Old Sarge", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Dodgers between 1952 and 1972.

After retiring as a player in 1972, Wilhelm held longtime coaching jobs with the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves.

[a] He was one of eleven children born to poor tenant farmers John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm in Huntersville, North Carolina.

[8] Wilhelm made his professional debut with the Mooresville Moors of the Class-D North Carolina State League in 1942.

He served in the United States Army in the 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.

[6][9] He rose to the rank of staff sergeant while in the Army, and played his entire career with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his back as a result of the wounds he received in battle.

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.

Facing rookie Dick Hoover of the Boston Braves, Wilhelm hit a home run over the short right-field fence at the Polo Grounds.

Wilhelm finished fourth in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting that season, behind rookie reliever Joe Black of the Dodgers.

[14] Jim Konstanty had won it for the Phillies in 1950,[15] and Ellis Kinder had finished seventh in the AL voting in 1951,[16] so it was a time when relief pitchers were starting to receive appreciation from the sportswriters.

[5] At the time of the trade, St. Louis manager Fred Hutchinson described Wilhelm as the type of pitcher who "makes us a definite pennant threat ...

General manager Frank Lane, alarmed at the large number of passed balls, allowed the Baltimore Orioles to select Wilhelm off waivers on August 23, 1958.

[6] On September 20 of that year, Wilhelm no-hit the eventual World Champion New York Yankees 1–0 at Memorial Stadium, in only his ninth career start.

[26] The no-hitter had been threatened at one point in the ninth inning when Hank Bauer bunted along the baseline, but Robinson allowed the ball to roll and it veered foul.

Orioles catchers had difficulty catching the Wilhelm knuckleball again in 1959 and they set an MLB record with 49 passed balls.

"[29] Author Bill James has written that Wilhelm and Triandos "established the principle that a knuckleball pitcher and a big, slow catcher make an awful combination.

[5] During the 1960 season, Orioles manager Paul Richards devised a larger mitt so his catchers could handle the knuckleball.

On January 14, 1963, Wilhelm was traded by the Orioles with Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson and Pete Ward to the Chicago White Sox for Luis Aparicio and Al Smith.

[5] Early in that season, White Sox manager Al López said that Wilhelm had improved his pitching staff by 40 percent.

[37] Wilhelm was noted during this period for his mentoring of relief pitcher Wilbur Wood, who came to the 1967 White Sox in a trade.

The White Sox left Wilhelm unprotected, possibly because they did not believe that teams would have interest in a much older pitcher.

On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and Bob Priddy were traded to the Atlanta Braves for Clint Compton and Mickey Rivers.

[39] As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy.

Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.

Wilhelm retired with the lowest career earned run average of any major league hurler after 1927 (Walter Johnson) who had pitched more than 2,000 innings.

After his retirement as a player, Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons.

[10] He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their knuckleballs, including Joe Niekro.

At his induction ceremony, he said that he had achieved all three of his initial major league goals: appearing in a World Series, being named to an All-Star team, and throwing a no-hitter.

[7] In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Wilhelm as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.

[8] Former teammate Moose Skowron commented on Wilhelm's key pitch, saying, "Hoyt was a good guy, and he threw the best knuckleball I ever saw.