LaMarr Hoyt, the 1983 Cy Young Award winner who helped the “Winning Ugly” White Sox win the American League West Division championship that season, died Monday in Columbia, South Carolina, following a lengthy illness, the Sox confirmed Wednesday.
Hoyt, who posted a 98-68 record and 3.99 ERA with 48 complete games during an eight-year career, went 24-10 with a 3.66 ERA in 1983, winning 13 straight games in one stretch in the second half while walking only 31 batters over 260 2⁄3 innings.
“My dad passed away from cancer with me by his side early in the morning of the 29th,” said Mathew Hoyt, LaMarr’s oldest son, in a release from the Sox.
He faced the minimum 27 batters in a victory against the Yankees on May 2, 1984 at old Comiskey Park, allowing a seventh-inning single to Don Mattingly, who was retired on a double play.
He faced teams multiple times in a season but could change up his looks and keep them off balance.
He was 31 when he pitched his final season in 1986 with the Padres, pitching to a 5.15 ERA in 35 games.
He originally was selected by the New York Yankees in the fifth round of the 1973 draft and traded to the Sox on April 5, 1977 with outfielder Oscar Gamble and pitcher Bob Polinsky in exchange for shortstop Bucky Dent.