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CMS Wants Park Site Named For Local Baseball Great

WFAE | By Gwendolyn Glenn

Published October 28, 2016 at 4:17 PM EDT

The CMS board voted this week to name a park at Cornelius Elementary School after Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher and Mecklenburg County native James Hoyt Wilhelm.

The park site is on CMS property, but its use is shared with the Town of Cornelius. The town board is expected to vote on the park’s naming by mid-December. If approved, the park would be named the James Hoyt Wilhelm Memorial Athletic Complex.

A graduate of Cornelius High School, Wilhelm, called ‘Old Sarge,’ was a record-setting relief pitcher known for his powerful knuckleball. He played for several major league teams, with most of his 21-year-career spent with the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox. Born in 1922, Wilhelm joined major league baseball when he was 29 years old and in 1985 was inducted into the Hall of Fame.