1899
Born September 9, 1899
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Waite Hoyt Marquee Hall of Fame 1969
b. September 9, 1899 · New York Giants 1918, 1932, Boston Red Sox 1919–1920, New York Yankees 1921–1930, Detroit Tigers 1930–1931, Philadelphia Athletics 1931, Brooklyn Dodgers 1932, 1937–1938, Pittsburgh Pirates 1933–1937
John McGraw signed him as a Brooklyn schoolboy, and he pitched one inning for the Giants in July 1918 at eighteen. Boston had him for two years before the Yankees took him. Over twenty-one seasons he went 237-182 with a 3.59 earned run average and 226 complete games.
New York got his best decade. He won 19, 19, 17, and 18 from 1921 through 1924, then 22 in 1927 to lead the American League, then 23 in 1928 while also leading in saves, a statistic nobody was tracking then. His 1927 earned run average of 2.63 was the lowest of any full season he pitched.
Five more stops followed once New York let him go, and he turned reliever to stay employed, working 48 games for Pittsburgh in 1934 with only 15 starts. Then came decades on Cincinnati radio, where his rain-delay stories about Ruth reached more people than the pitching ever had.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 2 | 1927, 1928 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 1 | 1928 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | NYG | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1919 | BOS | 13 | 38 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .132 |
| 1920 | BOS | 22 | 43 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .116 |
| 1921 | NYY | 43 | 99 | 8 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 0 | .222 |
| 1922 | NYY | 37 | 92 | 4 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 0 | .217 |
| 1923 | NYY | 37 | 84 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 0 | .190 |
| 1924 | NYY | 46 | 75 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .133 |
| 1925 | NYY | 46 | 79 | 5 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .304 |
| 1926 | NYY | 40 | 76 | 4 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .211 |
| 1927 | NYY | 36 | 99 | 10 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .222 |
| 1928 | NYY | 42 | 109 | 15 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .257 |
| 1929 | NYY | 30 | 76 | 9 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .224 |
| 1930 | DET/NYY | 34 | 62 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 0 | .161 |
| 1931 | DET/PHA | 32 | 73 | 6 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 12 | 0 | .233 |
| 1932 | BRO/NYG | 26 | 37 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .081 |
| 1933 | PIT | 36 | 32 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .156 |
| 1934 | PIT | 48 | 56 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .179 |
| 1935 | PIT | 39 | 54 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .259 |
| 1936 | PIT | 22 | 39 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | .154 |
| 1937 | BRO/PIT | 38 | 60 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 0 | .083 |
| 1938 | BRO | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 674 | 1287 | 96 | 255 | 26 | 11 | 0 | 100 | 40 | 161 | 0 | .198 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | NYG | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| 1919 | BOS | 4 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 105.1 | 99 | 38 | 22 | 28 | 3.25 |
| 1920 | BOS | 6 | 6 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 121.1 | 123 | 59 | 47 | 45 | 4.38 |
| 1921 | NYY | 19 | 13 | 43 | 32 | 3 | 282.1 | 301 | 97 | 81 | 102 | 3.09 |
| 1922 | NYY | 19 | 12 | 37 | 31 | 0 | 265.0 | 271 | 101 | 76 | 95 | 3.43 |
| 1923 | NYY | 17 | 9 | 37 | 28 | 1 | 238.2 | 227 | 80 | 66 | 60 | 3.02 |
| 1924 | NYY | 18 | 13 | 46 | 32 | 4 | 247.0 | 295 | 104 | 76 | 71 | 3.79 |
| 1925 | NYY | 11 | 14 | 46 | 30 | 6 | 243.0 | 283 | 108 | 78 | 86 | 4.00 |
| 1926 | NYY | 16 | 12 | 40 | 28 | 4 | 217.2 | 224 | 93 | 62 | 79 | 3.85 |
| 1927 | NYY | 22 | 7 | 36 | 32 | 1 | 256.1 | 242 | 75 | 54 | 86 | 2.63 |
| 1928 | NYY | 23 | 7 | 42 | 31 | 8 | 273.0 | 279 | 102 | 60 | 67 | 3.36 |
| 1929 | NYY | 10 | 9 | 30 | 25 | 1 | 201.2 | 219 | 95 | 69 | 57 | 4.24 |
| 1930 | DET/NYY | 11 | 10 | 34 | 27 | 4 | 183.1 | 240 | 96 | 56 | 35 | 4.71 |
| 1931 | DET/PHA | 13 | 13 | 32 | 26 | 0 | 203.0 | 254 | 112 | 69 | 40 | 4.97 |
| 1932 | BRO/NYG | 6 | 10 | 26 | 16 | 1 | 124.0 | 141 | 60 | 37 | 36 | 4.35 |
| 1933 | PIT | 5 | 7 | 36 | 8 | 4 | 117.0 | 118 | 38 | 19 | 44 | 2.92 |
| 1934 | PIT | 15 | 6 | 48 | 15 | 5 | 190.2 | 184 | 62 | 43 | 105 | 2.93 |
| 1935 | PIT | 7 | 11 | 39 | 11 | 6 | 164.0 | 187 | 62 | 27 | 63 | 3.40 |
| 1936 | PIT | 7 | 5 | 22 | 9 | 1 | 116.2 | 115 | 35 | 20 | 37 | 2.70 |
| 1937 | BRO/PIT | 8 | 9 | 38 | 19 | 2 | 195.0 | 211 | 74 | 36 | 65 | 3.42 |
| 1938 | BRO | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 16.1 | 24 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 4.96 |
| Career | — | 237 | 182 | 674 | 423 | 52 | 3762.1 | 4037 | 1500 | 1003 | 1206 | 3.59 |
On this day & linked events
1984
Died August 25, 1984
1918
Major-league debut: Waite Hoyt
Waite Hoyt made a major-league debut on July 24, 1918.
1938
Final major-league game: Waite Hoyt
Waite Hoyt played a final major-league game on May 15, 1938.
Image: Bain News Service, public domain