An all-star in 1955, Hoeft won 97 games in a career that spanned 15 years. Almost all of Hoeft’s success came while pitching for the Detroit Tigers from 1953-1958. He went 16-7 in 1955 with a 2.99 ERA. He led the league in shutouts that year, finishing with seven. He was a 20-game winner for Detroit in 1956, but that number dropped to nine the following season. By the middle of the 1959 season, Hoeft had been dealt to the Boston Red Sox and was no longer a starting pitcher. He stuck around the big leagues for another seven years, pitching for six more teams almost exclusively out of the bullpen. Hoeft died in Canadian Lakes, Michigan in 2010.
It is interesting that Hoeft, a pitcher, lists his favorite memory as hitting two home runs in a game. He hit all three of his career home runs in 1957 with two of them coming in that one game against Baltimore.
Billy Hoeft – career stats
