This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/19/2012
The son of a North Carolina farmer, Hoyt Wilhelm learned the knuckleball as a boy by emulating big leaguer Dutch Leonard. In his rookie season of 1952 he took the majors by storm. Wilhelm led the League in game appearances (71), winning percentage (.833), and ERA (2.43), and posted a 15-3 record for the New York Giants. This was the highest "wins" total the relief pitcher would ever record in a single season, but he more than compensated with a career saves total of 227. He was in solid contention for Rookie of The Year in 1952, but was edged by Brooklyn’s Joe Black. Black's career turned out to be short-lived, but Wilhelm pitched for 21 seasons and became the first relief pitcher to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. From the scarce high number series of Topps vaunted debut issue of large format baseball cards, this Wilhelm rookie projects an ageless, pack-fresh appearance. Amongst 401 examples inspected by PSA to date, the presented card stands alone as the only GEM MINT 10 1952 Topps Hoyt Wilhelm rookie card in existence.