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Wilbur Forrester Wood
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher
Born: October 22, 1941, Cambridge, MA
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: Boston Red Sox 1961-1964; Pittsburgh Pirates 1964-1965; Chicago White Sox 1967-1978
Wilbur Wood's major league career can be split into two distinct eras, pre and post knuckle ball. Without the knuckle ball, Wood was used sparingly in relief by the Red Sox and Pirates between 1961 and 1965, and after 34 appearances in 1965 he'd spend all of 1966 in the minors. Traded to the White Sox in October 1966 for Juan Pizarro (#125), Wood mastered the knuckle ball with the help of teammate Hoyt Wilhelm (#276). His reliance on the pitch made him into one of the best and most frequently used relievers between 1967 and 1970, as he appeared in a then record 88 games in 1968 and saved 56 games during that span. Wood was named The Sporting News Fireman of the Year in 1968. Shifted into the starting rotation out of necessity, Wood entered the most successful stage of his career in 1971. He was a 20-game winner for four seasons in a row, leading the league in games started four times and innings pitched twice. Wood finished third in the Cy Young voting in 1971 and was runner-up to Gaylord Perry (#193) in 1972 when he went 24-17 with a 2.51 ERA in 49 starts and a career-high 376 2/3 innings pitched. He was an All-Star in 1971, 1972 and 1974.
In 1976, a line drive off the bat of the Tigers' Ron LeFlore broke Wood's kneecap and led to his eventual retirement following the 1978 season. In 651 career games and 2,684 innings pitched, Wood was 164-156 with a 3.24 ERA and 1,411 strikeouts. His 90 wins between 1971 and 1974 led the entire major leagues during that span and he started 70 games during his career on just two days' rest. Wood is currently third on the White Sox all-time games pitched list with 578 and his fifth on the list in wins with 163.
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) - Card #454
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Wood card which was about $5 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
The Card / Pirates Team Set
Before seeing this card, I honestly had no idea Wood had played anywhere other than the White Sox during his big league career. I was surprised to learn he played in parts of four seasons with the Red Sox and two with the Pirates. The Pirates purchased Wood from the Red Sox on September 6, 1964, and he's wearing a Red Sox uniform here. Without much to highlight from his career (yet), Topps went with a cartoon on the back to mention his high school hockey career.
1965 Season
Wood had a decent season out of the Pirates' bullpen, his only full season in Pittsburgh. In 34 games, he was 1-1 with a 3.16 ERA over 51 1/3 innings pitched. He didn't get along with then Pirates manager Harry Walker (#438), and Wood was used sparingly in mop up or blow out situations. His SABR biography points out the Pirates were 4-30 in Wood's appearances. supporting the theory Walker didn't use Wood unless he was forced to.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #267
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1964-1965, 1967-1979
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2005 Topps Pristine Legends #84
113 - Wood non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/20/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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