Hoyt, Waite C.
Baseball
b. Sept. 9, 1899, Brooklyn, NY
d. Aug. 25, 1984
Nicknamed "Schoolboy" during the early part of his major league career because of his baby face, Hoyt pitched one game for the NL's New York Giants in 1918 and joined the Boston Red Sox in the AL the following year. His chief claim to fame with Boston was that he replaced Babe Ruth in the starting rotation when Ruth was moved to the outfield in 1919.
After having just a 10-12 record in two seasons, he rejoined Ruth on the New York Yankees in 1921. With the powerful Yankees, Hoyt became a star on the field and a celebrity off the field. A fun-loving playboy, he often celebrated victories and drowned defeats with Ruth.
Hoyt's best seasons were 1927, when he led the league in victories with a 22-7 record and in winning percentage with .759, and 1928, when he had a 23-7 record and a league-leading 8 saves in 42 appearances.
A very popular player, Hoyt went on the vaudeville circuit after the season. His lifestyle and the many innings he had pitched during the previous eight seasons then began to catch up with him. After a 10-9 record in 1929, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers early in the 1930 season.
He did a lot of traveling for the rest of his career, pitching for Detroit and the Philadelphia Athletics in 1931, for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants in 1932, for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1933 through 1936, for Pittsburgh and Brooklyn in 1937, and finishing with an 0-3 record for Brooklyn in 1938.
Hoyt spent the next twenty-six years as a radio broadcaster, the first two with Brooklyn, the next twenty-four with the Cincinnati Reds. He retired in 1966, but returned to the microphone for one season in 1972.
In 21 major league seasons, Hoyt had a 237-182 record, with 26 shutouts, 52 saves, and a 3.59 ERA. He struck out 1,206 hitters and walked 1,003 in 3,762 innings.