Wilhelm did not enter the major leagues until his late twenties. He fought in World War II before playing Major League Baseball. He was known to throw a knuckleball. He sometimes played as a starting pitcher but most of the time played as a relief pitcher. Wilhem won 124 games which is more than any other relief pitcher. He was also the first pitcher to reach 200 saves and play in 1,000 games.
He pitched until he was almost 50 years old. Wilhelm retired with one of the lowest career earned run averages in baseball history. Wilhelm coached the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves many years after his retirement. He was a resident of Sarasota, Florida for a long time and died in a nursing home of heart failure in 2002.
Early Life
Wilhem was born on July 26, 1922, in Huntersville, North Carolina.[2] His parents, John and Ethel (née Stanley) Wilhelm, were tenant farmers and had eleven children.[3] He played baseball at Cornelius High School in Cornelius, North Carolina.[4] There he started trying to throw the knuckleball. Because he could not throw very fast, he thought that being able to throw a knuckleball would make him successful. He used a tennis ball to practice.[1]
After serving in the military, he returned to playing minor league baseball in 1946. The New York Giants drafted Wilhem in the 1947 minor league draft. This is when he started playing in the major leagues.
↑Allen, Thomas E. (2004). If They Hadn't Gone: How World War II Affected Major League Baseball. Springfield, Missouri: Southwest Missouri State University. pp. 150–152. ISBN0-9748190-2-6.