Question 9: Since it has already been established that the player homered as a National Leaguer – and since Bunning came up with the Detroit Tigers – the answer must be Wilhelm. Is it Hoyt Wilhelm?
Answer: Correct. The singular hit came on April 23, 1952 at Braves Field in Boston. Wilhelm was a 29-year-old minor league veteran finally given a chance by Leo Durocher’s defending National League champion Giants that spring. He had already made two brief relief appearances when the Giants, 5-3, sent prospect Roger Bowman out to face the Braves. Bowman had little, lasting only into the third before Durocher summoned Wilhelm to protect a 3-2 New York lead.
Wilhelm couldn’t do it, giving up a game-tying single to the second batter he faced, Willard Marshall.
But in the fourth inning, Giants bats exploded. With one out, Don Mueller slammed Gene Conley’s first pitch into the right field seats for a home run that put New York on top 4-3. After Conley hit Al Dark, Wes Westrum made Conley pay, homering over the wall in left and knocking the Braves starter from the mound.
The new pitcher, Dick Hoover, looked in to find Wilhelm in the box against him. Knowing this rookie pitcher had never batted in the majors, Hoover grooved a first-pitch get-ahead fastball. Wilhelm swung and made solid contact, the ball landing in Braves Field’s famous ‘Jury Box’ bleachers in deep right.
Wilhelm lasted five innings before giving way to Dave Koslo, eventually getting credit for New York’s 9-5 victory. In the broad context of Wilhelm’s Hall of Fame career, that’s the noteworthy aspect. The singular aspect, however, was that fourth inning monster shot. For the record, Wilhelm would come to the plate nearly 500 more times in an MLB career that lasted into the 1970s without ever hitting another homer.
He would, however, become one of MLB’s first relief specialists, riding his knuckleball to 228 saves. Despite that and his longevity – Wilhelm pitched until he was 49 – he played on only one championship team, the 1954 Giants. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985, receiving 85 percent of the vote.