William Frederick Hoeft (May
17, 1932 – March 16, 2010) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball whose
career spanned 15 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants. He
was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Hoeft
was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur
free agent in 1950. He made his major league debut on April 18, 1952 for the
Tigers, and went on to pitch seven full seasons in Detroit. On September 7,
1953, Hoeft struck out three batters on nine pitches in the seventh inning of a
6–2 win over the Chicago White Sox. Hoeft became the fourth American League
pitcher and the ninth pitcher in Major League history, as well as the first
since 1928, to thrown an immaculate inning. On June 24, 1955, Hoeft surrendered the
first home run in the career of Harmon Killebrew, who would eventually hit 573 home runs in
his career. He was chosen to be part of the American League All-Star squad in
1955 (in his only baseball all-star selection). He was primarily used as
a starting pitcher in
Detroit, starting in 176 games during his time there. His best season came in
1956 when he won 20 games and pitched 18 complete games. He also showed
occasional potential as a power hitter, once tying an American League record
for consecutive home runs by a pitcher with two to begin a game.