waite hoyt was a dodger double dipper

many years ago, i asked a friend of mine a question. he had noted, as many people have when referring to a lackluster offensive lineup, that the 1999 minnesota twins 'were not the 1927 yankees'.  no, they certainly were not.  the 1999 twins scored just 686 runs and hit only 105 home runs (ron coomer led the team with 16 long balls).  in comparison, the 1927 yankees scored 975 times, and babe ruth and lou gehrig combined to hit 107 home runs all by themselves.

that discussion got us talking.  sure, the 1927 yankees were known for their offensive output from ruth, gehrig, tony lazzeri, and bob meusel, but who were the pitchers that benefited from this production?  we could not name one.  since then, i have remembered waite hoyt as the winningest pitcher on the 1927 yankees, just in case i'm in a bar and the question comes up.  it turns out, he also pitched for the dodgers.  twice.

[this is the sixtyfourth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, ralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessens, guillermo mota, joe beckwith, jamie hoffmann, babe herman, joe medwick, juan castro, ron perranoski, clyde king, paul waner, hughie jennings, ron negray, broadway aleck smith, george smith, johnny cooney, jim fairey, frenchy bordagaray, and doc casey.]

here is hoyt's 1990 target card - the only 'dodger' card i have of him

hoyt's first stop in brooklyn came in 1932, a season after he helped the philadelphia a's reach the world series.  he appeared in 8 games for the dodgers, going 1-3 in his 4 starts, and was released.  the new york giants (his original team) picked him up for the remainder of the season, and then hoyt moved on to the pirates for the 1933 campaign.  he pitched for pittsburgh until the dodgers purchased his contract during the 1937 season.  hoyt was 7-7 with a 3.23 era for the dodgers that year, but 0-3 to start the following season and was released.  still, he had become a dodger double dipper and was later named to the hall of fame in 1969 by the veteran's committee.  he is one of a handful of hall of fame players like hoyt wilhelm, eddie murray, greg maddux, and rickey henderson to have ended their careers with the dodgers without being thought of as dodgers, if that makes sense.