Wilbur Wood pitched sparingly for them over parts of four seasons before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1964.
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52 Facts About Wilbur Wood
2.
Wilbur Wood, who had previously relied on a fastball and curveball, refined the knuckleball with the help of veteran knuckleball specialist Hoyt Wilhelm.
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3.
Wilbur Wood spent the next four seasons as a relief pitcher for Chicago.
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4.
Wilbur Wood proceeded to lead the AL in games started from 1972 through 1975, starting a career-high 49 games in 1972.
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5.
Wilbur Wood won 20 or more games for four straight years, leading the AL in 1972 and 1973 with 24 wins.
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6.
In 1973, Wilbur Wood became the first pitcher to win and lose 20 or more games in a season since Walter Johnson did so in 1916.
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7.
Young Wilbur Wood grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts, with his younger brother, Jimmy.
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8.
Wilbur Wood attended Belmont High School, where he played in three different sports: baseball, as a pitcher; football, as the starting quarterback; and hockey, as a defenseman.
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9.
Wilbur Wood played for American Legion Post 99, winning 42 games.
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10.
Wilbur Wood wanted to play professional baseball, and he was drawing interest from the St Louis Cardinals, the Milwaukee Braves, and the Boston Red Sox.
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11.
Wilbur Wood began his professional career in 1960 with the Class D Waterloo Hawks of the Midwest League.
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12.
Wilbur Wood won his only decision in four games with the club, posting a 2.
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13.
In 1961, Wilbur Wood attended spring training with the Red Sox for the first time.
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14.
Wilbur Wood appeared in six games for the Red Sox, posting no record, a 5.
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15.
Wilbur Wood did not pitch well, losing seven of 10 decisions and posting a 4.
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16.
In 1963, Wilbur Wood was one of the last pitchers cut in spring training.
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17.
Wilbur Wood appeared in three games towards the end of the year with the Pirates, including two starts.
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18.
In 1966, Wilbur Wood was one of the first Pirates' pitchers cut from major league spring training.
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19.
When Wilbur Wood arrived at spring training with Chicago in 1967, manager Eddie Stanky immediately informed him he would be the ballclub's mop-up man.
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20.
Wilbur Wood realized he needed to make a change to prolong his career.
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21.
Wilbur Wood made the roster as a relief pitcher and posted a 1.
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22.
Wilbur Wood had been reducing it since the previous year, but dispensing with it entirely allowed him to sneakily throw his fastball to hitters, making it a deceptive counterpart to the knuckleball.
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23.
Wilbur Wood finished the season with 88 games pitched, briefly a record until Wayne Granger appeared in 90 for the Cincinnati Reds the next year.
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24.
Wilbur Wood again served as a late-inning reliever for the White Sox in 1969.
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25.
Wilbur Wood again led the AL in appearances with 76, ranked second in games finished to Ron Perranoski, and finished sixth with 15 saves.
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26.
Wilbur Wood allowed a single to Paul Schaal that drove in a run but finished the inning without any more runs scoring, then a scoreless eighth and ninth inning for the save.
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27.
Wilbur Wood led the AL in games pitched for the third year in a row, leading the league in games finished and ranking sixth in the AL with 21 saves.
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28.
Wilbur Wood recalled that the team wanted to trade him to the Senators for Darold Knowles but was unable to because he was holding out for more money.
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29.
Wilbur Wood was named to the AL All-Star Team for the first time, though he did not pitch in the All-Star Game.
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30.
Wilbur Wood's 189 adjusted ERA+ led the AL, and his Wins Above Replacement of 11.
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32.
Still starting about every three games in 1972, Wilbur Wood allowed the White Sox to mainly use a three-man rotation, with Stan Bahnsen and Tom Bradley starting every fourth day and other hurlers making spot starts in between.
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34.
Wilbur Wood took a no decision despite allowing one run in nine innings, but he followed that up with shutouts in his next three games.
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35.
Wilbur Wood set career highs in starts and innings pitched in 1972.
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37.
On May 28,1973, while pitching for the White Sox against the Cleveland Indians, Wilbur Wood pitched the remainder of a 21-inning carryover game that had been suspended two nights earlier, allowing only two hits in five innings to earn the victory.
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38.
Wilbur Wood then started the regularly scheduled game and pitched a four-hit complete game shutout, earning two wins in the same night.
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39.
Wilbur Wood was selected to the AL All-Star Team for the third time in his career, though he did not pitch in the All-Star Game.
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40.
Wilbur Wood led the major leagues in wins by two over Hunter, though he led the majors with 69 losses.
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41.
In 1975, Wilbur Wood was "an early season dud, " according to Sports Illustrated.
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42.
Wilbur Wood failed to reach 300 innings pitched for the first time since 1970 but led the league in starts for the fourth and final year in a row.
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43.
Wilbur Wood started consecutive games for the White Sox in 1976, pitching in their ninth game on April 23 and their 10th game five days later, though he lost both of them.
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44.
Wilbur Wood had surgery the next day and was out for the rest of the season.
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45.
However, Wilbur Wood vetoed the deal, wanting to test free agency instead.
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46.
Wilbur Wood had 1,411 strikeouts in 2,684 innings pitched, completing 114 games of his 297 games started.
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47.
Wilbur Wood started 70 games on two days' rest, the highest total since 1914 with the exception of Grover Cleveland Alexander, who did so 72 times in that period.
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48.
Wilbur Wood continued to use his fastball as well; though he did not have much velocity on it, the pitch would deceive hitters because it traveled straight, unlike the knuckleball.
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49.
Wilbur Wood has the perfect temperament [and] never gets rattled.
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50.
However, since Wilhelm was pitching for the Sox when Wilbur Wood joined them, Duane Josephson and Jerry McNertney were already used to the pitch.
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51.
On November 6,1963, Wilbur Wood married Sandra Malcolm, in whom he had been interested since high school.
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52.
Wilbur Wood is good friends with Jim Price, his catcher at Columbus in 1966.
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