Wilbur Wood

Common card · No. 472299

Wilbur Forrester Wood Jr. (October 22, 1941 – January 17, 2026) was an American professional baseball pitcher. In a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched for the Boston Red Sox (1961–1964), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1964–1965), and the Chicago White Sox (1967–1978). A knuckleball specialist after joining the White Sox, he threw left-handed and batted right-handed. Raised in Belmont, Massachusetts, Wood played several sports in high school and was signed by his hometown Boston Red Sox in 1960. He pitched sparingly for them over parts of four seasons before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1964. Seldom-used by the team in 1965, he spent all of 1966 in the minor leagues before being traded to the White Sox. Wood, who had previously relied on a fastball and curveball, refined the knuckleball with the help of veteran knuckleball specialist Hoyt Wilhelm. He spent the next four seasons as a relief pitcher for Chicago. In 1968, he set a record (broken the next year) with...

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