Waite Hoyt
@waite-hoyt.bsky.social
Ace pitcher of the 1927 New York #Yankees, beloved radio voice of the #Cincinnati #Reds, and co-author with Tim Manners of “Schoolboy: The Untold Journey of a Yankees Hero,” (University of Nebraska Press, 2024)
http://schoolboyhoyt.com
http://schoolboyhoyt.com
“I brought my own uniform because I didn’t know that the Dodgers would loan me a uniform. For years ever after, Casey Stengel would say, ‘He appeared in a uniform his mother made for him!’ That wasn’t true, but it did look a little bit cheap alongside the Dodgers uniform.”
January 5, 2026 at 1:38 AM
“I brought my own uniform because I didn’t know that the Dodgers would loan me a uniform. For years ever after, Casey Stengel would say, ‘He appeared in a uniform his mother made for him!’ That wasn’t true, but it did look a little bit cheap alongside the Dodgers uniform.”
“Hurt Is Hoyt; Dodgers Scrambles for Pitchers” In Brooklyn, where “oil” can sound like “earl” in the local vernacular, newspaper headlines sometimes declared “Hurt is Hoyt” after hometown favorite Waite Hoyt was injured during a game.
January 3, 2026 at 12:21 PM
“Hurt Is Hoyt; Dodgers Scrambles for Pitchers” In Brooklyn, where “oil” can sound like “earl” in the local vernacular, newspaper headlines sometimes declared “Hurt is Hoyt” after hometown favorite Waite Hoyt was injured during a game.
“The almost square block on which Ebbets Field stood had at one time sheltered squads of squatters who had existed there like ground moles for years. Eviction notices were served, the hole filled in, and I watched Ebbets Field as it was built. Brick by brick.”
January 2, 2026 at 12:57 PM
“The almost square block on which Ebbets Field stood had at one time sheltered squads of squatters who had existed there like ground moles for years. Eviction notices were served, the hole filled in, and I watched Ebbets Field as it was built. Brick by brick.”
“The mighty Josh Gibson, who drew comparisons to Babe Ruth, came to Dexter Park two or three times, and I saw him rocket some record-breaking home runs into the beyond.”
January 1, 2026 at 12:52 PM
“The mighty Josh Gibson, who drew comparisons to Babe Ruth, came to Dexter Park two or three times, and I saw him rocket some record-breaking home runs into the beyond.”
“There were one or two occasions in spring training when I thought, erroneously or otherwise, Bob Shawkey was pulling rank unnecessarily. Our relations became short of cordial.”
December 31, 2025 at 12:29 PM
“There were one or two occasions in spring training when I thought, erroneously or otherwise, Bob Shawkey was pulling rank unnecessarily. Our relations became short of cordial.”
“There was hardly a great name I could think of that did not somehow recall a moment in my career. Alexander Joy Cartwright, the man who invented the game? I visited his grave in Honolulu.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt (before Cartwright’s role was debunked)
December 30, 2025 at 12:51 PM
“There was hardly a great name I could think of that did not somehow recall a moment in my career. Alexander Joy Cartwright, the man who invented the game? I visited his grave in Honolulu.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt (before Cartwright’s role was debunked)
“Babe Ruth may have failed as a team manager, but baseball would have been able to say at least, well, we did give the fellow his chance, and Ruth would have been satisfied to have had that chance.”
December 29, 2025 at 12:49 PM
“Babe Ruth may have failed as a team manager, but baseball would have been able to say at least, well, we did give the fellow his chance, and Ruth would have been satisfied to have had that chance.”
“Rogers Hornsby was unquestionably one of the game’s greatest batters, but seemed a cold man, and I often wondered if he had a single friend except himself.”
December 28, 2025 at 12:44 PM
“Rogers Hornsby was unquestionably one of the game’s greatest batters, but seemed a cold man, and I often wondered if he had a single friend except himself.”
“I’ll never forget watching the first Red Sox batter, Harry Hooper, drape the bat over his left shoulder. I thought, ‘What a peculiar batting style. Nobody in the National League would hit like that’.”
December 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
“I’ll never forget watching the first Red Sox batter, Harry Hooper, drape the bat over his left shoulder. I thought, ‘What a peculiar batting style. Nobody in the National League would hit like that’.”
“One morning, I picked up a newspaper with the big, blaring headline: 'Babe Ruth Sold to the New York Yankees for $125,000.' The fans in Boston went nuts.”
December 26, 2025 at 12:50 PM
“One morning, I picked up a newspaper with the big, blaring headline: 'Babe Ruth Sold to the New York Yankees for $125,000.' The fans in Boston went nuts.”
“I threw a curveball that didn’t break. Zensuke Shimada took a swing, and he hit it over the left-field fence. The Japanese team scored five runs against the Herb Hunter All-Stars in one inning because we made three or four errors. We just played bad baseball that day.”
December 25, 2025 at 12:08 PM
“I threw a curveball that didn’t break. Zensuke Shimada took a swing, and he hit it over the left-field fence. The Japanese team scored five runs against the Herb Hunter All-Stars in one inning because we made three or four errors. We just played bad baseball that day.”
“Tragically, Pete Alexander’s last days were spent as more of a Ward of Baseball — with the Commissioner’s Office paying for his board and room, and with Pete, whenever he could get his hands on a dollar, disappearing from his room, eluding his caretaker and winding up coupled next to a bottle.”
December 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
“Tragically, Pete Alexander’s last days were spent as more of a Ward of Baseball — with the Commissioner’s Office paying for his board and room, and with Pete, whenever he could get his hands on a dollar, disappearing from his room, eluding his caretaker and winding up coupled next to a bottle.”
“My grandmother gave me a two-toned bat for Christmas. I couldn’t wait to use that bat. Finally, springtime came around, and some kid, the first batter up in the game, borrowed it, took a swing, and snapped it right in half.”
December 23, 2025 at 12:27 PM
“My grandmother gave me a two-toned bat for Christmas. I couldn’t wait to use that bat. Finally, springtime came around, and some kid, the first batter up in the game, borrowed it, took a swing, and snapped it right in half.”
“Baseball is a game of inches, but those inches are often between a man’s ears.” - Connie Mack
December 22, 2025 at 12:30 PM
“Baseball is a game of inches, but those inches are often between a man’s ears.” - Connie Mack
“I’d go out to the ballpark mornings and have somebody hit the ball again and again out to the wall.” - Duffy Lewis on mastering Duffy’s Cliff, the steep incline that once ran up against the left-field wall at Fenway Park from the time the ballpark opened in 1912 until it was graded flat in 1934.
December 21, 2025 at 12:35 PM
“I’d go out to the ballpark mornings and have somebody hit the ball again and again out to the wall.” - Duffy Lewis on mastering Duffy’s Cliff, the steep incline that once ran up against the left-field wall at Fenway Park from the time the ballpark opened in 1912 until it was graded flat in 1934.
“I just tried not to be the one who lost.” - George Pipgras
December 20, 2025 at 2:32 PM
“I just tried not to be the one who lost.” - George Pipgras
“Paul Krichell, or ‘Krich,’ as they called the bow-legged, roly-poly Yankee talent expert, had been watching Gehrig since Lou played first for the High School of Commerce years before, and had, as a high school slugger, knocked one out of Wrigley Field in an intersectional championship battle.”
December 19, 2025 at 12:49 PM
“Paul Krichell, or ‘Krich,’ as they called the bow-legged, roly-poly Yankee talent expert, had been watching Gehrig since Lou played first for the High School of Commerce years before, and had, as a high school slugger, knocked one out of Wrigley Field in an intersectional championship battle.”
“Hank Greenberg worked in pepper games at every opportunity, never ceasing or satisfied, until finally he became a truly graceful performer in the field, one of the best first basemen I ever watched.”
December 18, 2025 at 12:32 PM
“Hank Greenberg worked in pepper games at every opportunity, never ceasing or satisfied, until finally he became a truly graceful performer in the field, one of the best first basemen I ever watched.”
“I wasn’t going to win any batting titles, but I wasn’t going to make the pitcher look like Walter Johnson either.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt (.198 , 255 hits in 1287 at-bats, 96 runs, 100 RBIs, and 40 walks)
December 17, 2025 at 12:58 PM
“I wasn’t going to win any batting titles, but I wasn’t going to make the pitcher look like Walter Johnson either.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt (.198 , 255 hits in 1287 at-bats, 96 runs, 100 RBIs, and 40 walks)
“In came Tony Lazzeri, Mark Koenig, and Urban Shocker. Little by little, in 1925, the Yanks took the shape of the club it was later to become.”
December 16, 2025 at 12:10 PM
“In came Tony Lazzeri, Mark Koenig, and Urban Shocker. Little by little, in 1925, the Yanks took the shape of the club it was later to become.”
“The morning of December 15th at 7:30 am -- I’m quite sure that was the date and time -- I felt somebody shaking me on the shoulder, roughly. It was my father, wildly waving around the New York Tribune. The headline: Yanks in Big Trade. I damn near collapsed. I had become a New York Yankee.”
December 15, 2025 at 12:33 PM
“The morning of December 15th at 7:30 am -- I’m quite sure that was the date and time -- I felt somebody shaking me on the shoulder, roughly. It was my father, wildly waving around the New York Tribune. The headline: Yanks in Big Trade. I damn near collapsed. I had become a New York Yankee.”
“The first day I joined the Red Sox, I was introduced around. Here were fellows whom I had come to know through reports, like the great Wally Schang.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt
December 14, 2025 at 12:40 PM
“The first day I joined the Red Sox, I was introduced around. Here were fellows whom I had come to know through reports, like the great Wally Schang.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt
“Jack Robinson could have hung on a good deal longer had he wanted to, but he wisely decided to lay the groundwork for his lifetime security while he still had his fame to bargain with. I could only admire him for making his decision and sticking with it.”
December 13, 2025 at 12:20 PM
“Jack Robinson could have hung on a good deal longer had he wanted to, but he wisely decided to lay the groundwork for his lifetime security while he still had his fame to bargain with. I could only admire him for making his decision and sticking with it.”
“The year 1922 was one of dissension and cordial dislike within the Yankees because the two club owners, Colonel Ruppert and Colonel Huston, were fighting. Ruppert liked Miller Huggins as manager, but Huston did not.”
December 12, 2025 at 12:12 PM
“The year 1922 was one of dissension and cordial dislike within the Yankees because the two club owners, Colonel Ruppert and Colonel Huston, were fighting. Ruppert liked Miller Huggins as manager, but Huston did not.”
“I faced George Sisler, and remembered when, with the game all but won, George turned an easy third out into a base hit … while the ball was stuck in the webbing of my brand-new glove. I said a long string of bad words to myself.”
December 11, 2025 at 1:08 PM
“I faced George Sisler, and remembered when, with the game all but won, George turned an easy third out into a base hit … while the ball was stuck in the webbing of my brand-new glove. I said a long string of bad words to myself.”