[1] Despite being a Dodgers fan, Hoyt was signed to a professional contract by New York Giants manager John McGraw when he was but 15.

In May 1930, the Yankees traded Hoyt and Mark Koenig to the Detroit Tigers for Ownie Carroll, Harry Rice, and Yats Wuestling.

As a vaudevillian, he appeared with many of the most well-known performers of the day, including Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante, George Burns, and others.

He added to his repertoire by becoming an accomplished painter and writer, including two published  books: “Babe Ruth as I Knew Him” (Dell Publishing Company, 1948) and “Schoolboy: The Untold Journey of a Yankees Hero,” (University of Nebraska Press, 2024), a posthumous memoir, with co-author Tim Manners and foreword by Bob Costas.

[5] During a stint as the host of Grandstand and Bandstand on WMCA, he tried to audition for the Yankees, but sponsor Wheaties vetoed him out of hand.

Dodgers voice Red Barber, however, thought more of Hoyt's abilities and hired him to host the team's post-game shows on WOR in 1940.

He told author Curt Smith that he felt using past tense was more accurate, because "as I speak to you, what happened a moment ago is gone."

In fact, the team only finished in the first division seven other times during his tenure, leading Hoyt to call himself "a bad news broadcaster."

He retired from full-time broadcasting work in 1965, though he later made appearances on both radio and television, including the color commentary for the Reds telecasts in 1972.

On June 10, 2007, the Reds honored Hoyt, Marty Brennaman, and Joe Nuxhall with replica microphones that are hung below the radio broadcast booth at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Betty lived in Cincinnati until her death on December 25, 2015,[10] and was interviewed extensively in the video biography Waite's World written and directed by Donn Burrows.

The video bio was released on VHS in 1997 and includes interviews with his son Chris, the late Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Nuxhall, reporter and television personality Nick Clooney, and retired Reds pitcher Jim O'Toole.

Hoyt died of heart failure while preparing for what he realized would be his final visit to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.