iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

“Nobody’s going to take away from me any of the memories and the wonderful things I’ve thought of and done -- the thrill of standing out there on the pitcher’s mound, the exhilaration of winning and the disappointment of losing.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

“I’ve read pieces saying I roomed with Babe Ruth. I never roomed with him at all. His roommate for a while was Ping Bodie, and then it was Freddy Hoffman. I think it was Bodie who once said, ‘I never roomed with Ruth. I roomed with his suitcase’.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

“Christy Mathewson was one of my boyhood heroes, for his name and his great deeds filled the New York and Brooklyn sports pages when I was small.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

“In the second game of the 1921 World Series, pitching for the Yankees against the Giants, I beat them 3-0, allowing only two hits. That was the series in which I pitched three full games, 27 innings in total, allowing just two runs, both unearned.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

“Since I had won 19 games during the 1921 season, I was sure Miller Huggins would start me in the Series, but Hug opened with Carl Mays and we beat the Giants, 3-0.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

“In the 1928 World Series, Babe was up to his old tricks. He dominated a situation by rising to the challenge and turned it on as only he could.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt (pictured, October 4, 1922: Joe Dugan scores the first Yankees run on a Babe Ruth single in the first game of the 1922 Series)

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“I certainly will not forget the many years that I have appeared for Burger on this baseball broadcast. More to the point, I will not forget the many, many years of happiness that you, the fans, have brought me.” - Waite Hoyt, signing off for the last time as the voice of the Cincinnati Reds.

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

“Babe was just a young fella in Boston, and he didn’t know from nothing, as the expression goes. He didn’t even know how much he should be paid. All he wanted to do was play ball.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

“For Babe Ruth himself, the milestone was almost an afterthought. The only record he could break was his own, so it didn’t seem so important to him or anyone else.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt (pictured: Roger Maris)

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

“We went into the 1922 World Series in a miserable hitting slump. I took one on the chin, 3-0. We only tied one game, 3-3, in that series, and an umpire inexplicably called that game because of “darkness,” even though the sun had not yet set.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“In the ‘23 Series, Casey Stengel hit an inside-the-park home run and lost his shoe between third base and home.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“All professions have their doubtful angles and characters who are not wholesome, good people. Baseball is no different.” - Red Sox general manager Ed Barrow, preparing rookie pitcher Waite Hoyt for news of the Black Sox Scandal.

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

“In 1931, Babe Ruth’s bat wasn’t cracking homers as before. He wound up with 46. Gehrig tied him with the same number. Lou actually hit one other, which never found its way into the record books.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

“I reached for the phone and called the Pittsburgh Pirates. I don’t remember what prompted me to try Pittsburgh first -- maybe because my wife’s family was well-known there.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

“I could tell you stories about Miller Huggins all night long and what a wonderful man he was.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

“Wrapped up in Babe Ruth is the essence of baseball, and to tell his complete story would be to address practically the whole story of baseball itself.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

“A pitcher must have the desire, patience, willingness to learn, tolerance of setbacks, temperament, and a distinct understanding of the extent his capabilities will take him, as well as what sacrifices he will make to reach his goal.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt, pictured pitching to Rogers Hornsby.

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

“Babe Ruth played with clever intensity, rose to the occasion, and won ball games for his pitchers, teammates, and owners.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

“Yankee Stadium opened in a blaze of glory. Bob Shawkey pitched the first game in Yankee Stadium, and Babe Ruth, true to his style and achievements, hit a home run.“

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

“Lou Gehrig’s best chance of stealing the home run crown from the Babe evaporated because of another man’s excusable error.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

“I feel more quickly for the guy who’s defeated in a tough one because there is no compensation for that. It is utterly devastating.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

“When I was in the minors, I once pitched 19 innings in front of just six spectators. We lost, 2-1. My arm was stiff the next day, and maybe two or three days after, so Art Devlin, our manager, didn’t pitch me again for about a week.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

“In 1928, I had just begun to learn the lesson that all champions must learn, that staying on top is often a fiercer struggle than getting there, that it requires concentration above the average and ambition that lasts beyond the victory through defeat, injury and distraction.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

“At 33 years of age, I learned to throw a slider. It took me two seasons to dare use it in a game. Without suddenly launching me to league leadership, my slider did keep me around a few more years.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

“Miller Huggins had developed what looked like a boil, or a carbuncle, on his right cheek. What jackass told him that a sunlamp was the right treatment for the dreadful infection on his face, I’ll never know.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

“George Burns, who played first base for the Athletics and Cleveland for most of his career, could hit me as if I had tossed the ball underhand. He clobbered me.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

“Despite all the clamor about other Yankee greats and teams throughout the decades, I am sure the teams of the ‘20s initiated the style, set the pattern, and through wisdom and management, built the almost invincible organization that came to be known as the Yankees dynasty.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

“For 23 years in professional baseball, I had this great dedication to pitching. I pitched in 687 big-league baseball games, 3,845 and ⅔ innings. I made 11 World Series starts and one in relief. Some say I was one of the best clutch pitchers in the business.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

“The Giants ran into a stone wall because they didn’t realize Jacob Ruppert had enough money to build his own stadium. They braced the wrong fellow.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

“I worked 27 games for Brooklyn in ‘37, and did not feel I had done too badly.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

“I was a kid born to trouble, and being named Waite didn’t do me much good.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt, pictured with doppelganger and minor-league partner-in-crime Gus Helfrich, who, along with Waite, was arrested for throwing a watermelon out a hotel window (pre-television sets).

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

“Earnest application steadied him down until Bobby Feller became one of those ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ pitchers. If World War II had not taken a few years out of his record, he certainly would have won 300 games.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

“‘What a sock,’ I thought. ‘Who could ever hit a ball like that, that far?’ What delight I took in being privileged to see such a drive. Suddenly, I remembered. The man off whom Babe Ruth had hit that tremendous homer was … me.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

“Sometimes I wonder why pitchers ever lose a game, and then I reflect that there’s a fellow also pitching for the other side.” - Urban Shocker (pictured: Yankees pitchers Waite Hoyt and Urban Shocker)

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

“Hank Greenberg was a thorough gentleman, a gallant opponent, an earnest competitor, and a loyal friend.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

“Cornelius McGillicuddy was never called anything from the time he was a boy except Connie Mack. I liked Mr. Mack and enjoyed playing for him.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

“I remember playing on Long Island, a night game. It was by torchlight. I was sure that this idea of playing games at night would never catch on.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

“Babe had shown evidence of becoming a powerhouse slugger, and Ed Barrow wanted his dynamite bat in the regular Boston lineup. By the time I reached Fenway Park in 1919, Ruth was playing regularly in left field and was justifying Barrow’s gamble.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

“From the first day Gehrig appeared in a Yankee uniform, through Babe Ruth's last day in the same uniform, Lou had to play second fiddle. This was not by decree, for even as Gehrig would say, ‘I know Babe is the greatest. I'm lucky to be playing with him, much less trying to outdo him’."

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

“Babe Ruth was no fool—he just didn’t care about being careful.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

“Babe’s career can be divided into two halves. The first came before Yankees manager Miller Huggins fined him $5,000 in 1925, and the second following that.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

“In 1924, there was a wave of enthusiasm for the Washington ballclub and Walter Johnson, its great pitcher, who had never been in a World Series. Everybody, it seemed, wanted to win for Walter Johnson.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

“I possessed every requisite I could ask for, physical or mental, yet I was still far short of my goal or at least the peak Miller Huggins repeatedly said I should attain: league leader, winner of 25 games.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

“Colonel Ruppert says to me, ‘Dat lousy pitching you do, dat’s de problem, Hoyts. Dat 2 to 1 pitching. Why de hell don’t you vin ‘em 12-2, like Joe Bush?’”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

“I am so deeply thankful for the way others helped me build my life and how they came to my assistance when I needed it the most … I have embedded their love into the very depths of my soul.” - Schoolboy Waite Hoyt (pictured: Yankees ace and Reds announcer Waite Hoyt with fans)

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

“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’.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

“I wound up the 1931 season winning 10 games and losing three for Connie Mack and the Athletics in half a season. That was good pitching, even though I was out of shape.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

“Ty Cobb reached out and, with a great flourish, removed Wally’s cap and started to rub his head. The usually cheerful Wally, with muscles like Atlas, was infuriated. He uncoiled a vicious uppercut, and Cobb went down like a statue knocked off a pedestal.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

“Charles Albert ‘Chief’ Bender was before my time, and I knew him more as a sensational rifle shot than a pitcher. He worked for Winchester Arms, I believe, and used to give shooting exhibitions.”

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Waite Hoyt @waite-hoyt.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

“A hitter prizes his bat more than he does his watch.”

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