Wilbur Wood, All-Star knuckleballer and White Sox legend, dies at 84
Wood played 17 seasons in the big leagues
Knuckleballer and legendary Chicago White Sox lefty Wilbur Wood has died, the team announced late Sunday. He was 84. Wood played 17 seasons in the big leagues from 1961-78, including the final 12 with the White Sox.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts, native signed with his hometown Boston Red Sox in 1960 and made his MLB debut as a 19 year old the next season. Wood spent most of the 1961-66 seasons in the minors with the Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates, appearing in 73 MLB games (11 starts) with a 4.17 ERA those years.
The Pirates traded Wood to the White Sox following the 1966 season, at which point he became a full-time knuckleballer and had his first taste of extended success in the show. Wood pitched to a 2.49 ERA from 1967-70 and led the majors in relief appearances every year from 1968-70. He received MVP votes in 1968.
"I was signed as a fastball/curveball pitcher and did very well with those in the minor leagues, but they just weren't good enough for the majors. I'd be fine for three or four innings, but after I went through the batting order once I'd start to get hit," Wood told Sports Illustrated in 2019. "I just decided to junk my curve and everything else and go 100% with the knuckleball."
An injury opened a rotation spot for Wood in 1971. That was the start of a five-year stretch in which he won 20 games four times, led the majors in starts four times, and posted a 3.08 ERA in 1,681 ⅔ innings. Three times Wood placed in the top five of the Cy Young voting those years, including finishing second to Gaylord Perry in 1972.
Because he was a rubber-armed knuckleballer, Wood made the majority of his starts on two or three days' rest from 1971-75. He led baseball with 224 starts those five years, 23 more than any other pitcher, and those 1,681 ⅔ innings were 87 more than anyone else. Only Tom Seaver was ahead of Wood in WAR.
"People said I didn't get sore because all I threw was the knuckleball, but that's not true. I'd get stiff and sore, and in those days pitchers never used ice," Wood told SI. "I didn't get as sore as if I was throwing, say, a slider, because I wasn't putting the pressure on my elbow and shoulder, but I did get sore."
A line drive broke Wood's kneecap on May 9, 1976, ending his season. He struggled when he returned the following year, and posted a 5.11 ERA in 290 ⅔ innings from 1977-78. He retired after the 1978 season at age 37.
"I just couldn't do what I could do before I got hurt. That took the fun out of it," he explained.
Wood retired with a 164-156 record and a 3.24 ERA in 2,684 innings. He was a three-time All-Star (1971-72, 1974) and he still ranks among the White Sox franchise leaders in wins, innings, games pitched, strikeouts, and many other categories. Wood received Hall of Fame votes every year from 1984-89 before falling off the ballot.
