1932
Born May 17, 1932
Oshkosh, WI, USA
Billy Hoeft Marquee
b. May 17, 1932 · Detroit Tigers 1952–1959, Boston Red Sox 1959, Baltimore Orioles 1959–1962, San Francisco Giants 1963, 1966, Milwaukee Braves 1964, Chicago Cubs 1965–1966
Billy Hoeft signed with Detroit out of an Oshkosh high school and was in the majors at nineteen. His best year came at twenty-four: twenty wins, seven shutouts and 20 complete games for the 1956 Tigers, the season after his only All-Star selection.
He was a starter for Detroit through 1959 and then, as the arm aged, gradually became something else — a long reliever and spot starter who moved through Baltimore, Boston, San Francisco, Milwaukee and the Cubs over his last seven years, picking up 33 saves along the way.
Born in 1932, Hoeft pitched 1,847 innings with 75 complete games and finished 97-101. Hoeft lived until March 16, 2010.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1955 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | DET | 34 | 40 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | .150 |
| 1953 | DET | 30 | 64 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 0 | .172 |
| 1954 | DET | 35 | 52 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 0 | .192 |
| 1955 | DET | 36 | 82 | 9 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 25 | 0 | .207 |
| 1956 | DET | 42 | 80 | 16 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 22 | 0 | .250 |
| 1957 | DET | 42 | 67 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 0 | .149 |
| 1958 | DET | 43 | 44 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 0 | .273 |
| 1959 | BAL/BOS/DET | 26 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .222 |
| 1960 | BAL | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1961 | BAL | 35 | 39 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 0 | .179 |
| 1962 | BAL | 57 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | .158 |
| 1963 | SFG | 23 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1964 | MLN | 42 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .222 |
| 1965 | CHC | 29 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .273 |
| 1966 | CHC/SFG | 40 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| Career | — | 533 | 531 | 73 | 107 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 47 | 67 | 162 | 0 | .202 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | DET | 2 | 7 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 125.0 | 123 | 60 | 63 | 67 | 4.32 |
| 1953 | DET | 9 | 14 | 29 | 27 | 2 | 197.2 | 223 | 106 | 58 | 90 | 4.83 |
| 1954 | DET | 7 | 15 | 34 | 25 | 1 | 175.0 | 180 | 89 | 59 | 114 | 4.58 |
| 1955 | DET | 16 | 7 | 32 | 29 | 0 | 220.0 | 187 | 73 | 75 | 133 | 2.99 |
| 1956 | DET | 20 | 14 | 38 | 34 | 0 | 248.0 | 276 | 112 | 104 | 172 | 4.06 |
| 1957 | DET | 9 | 11 | 34 | 28 | 1 | 207.0 | 188 | 80 | 69 | 111 | 3.48 |
| 1958 | DET | 10 | 9 | 36 | 21 | 3 | 143.0 | 148 | 66 | 49 | 94 | 4.15 |
| 1959 | BAL/BOS/DET | 2 | 5 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 67.2 | 78 | 42 | 31 | 40 | 5.59 |
| 1960 | BAL | 2 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 | 18 | 9 | 14 | 14 | 4.34 |
| 1961 | BAL | 7 | 4 | 35 | 12 | 3 | 138.0 | 106 | 31 | 55 | 100 | 2.02 |
| 1962 | BAL | 4 | 8 | 57 | 4 | 7 | 113.2 | 103 | 58 | 43 | 73 | 4.59 |
| 1963 | SFG | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 4 | 24.1 | 26 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 4.44 |
| 1964 | MLN | 4 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 4 | 73.1 | 76 | 31 | 18 | 47 | 3.80 |
| 1965 | CHC | 2 | 2 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 51.1 | 41 | 16 | 20 | 44 | 2.81 |
| 1966 | CHC/SFG | 1 | 4 | 40 | 0 | 3 | 44.2 | 47 | 24 | 17 | 33 | 4.84 |
| Career | — | 97 | 101 | 505 | 200 | 33 | 1847.1 | 1820 | 809 | 685 | 1140 | 3.94 |
On this day & linked events
2010
Died March 16, 2010
1952
Major-league debut: Billy Hoeft
Billy Hoeft made a major-league debut on April 18, 1952.
1966
Final major-league game: Billy Hoeft
Billy Hoeft played a final major-league game on September 25, 1966.
Image: Bowman Gum, public domain