Major League Baseball is in mourning. Wilbur Wood, one of the most resilient and unique pitchers in MLB history, has died at the age of 84.
The former Chicago White Sox pitcher left an indelible mark thanks to his mastery of the knuckleball and a career marked by records that still seem unattainable today.
What was the cause of Wilbur Wood’s death?
So far, no specific cause of Wilbur Wood‘s death has been publicly reported. According to reports from The New York Times, the former player died Saturday at a hospital in Burlington, Massachusetts. The family has not given further details, so it is presumed that it was due to natural causes associated with his age.
The news was confirmed over the weekend and quickly generated reactions in the baseball world, especially among White Sox fans, the franchise where Wood lived his best years.
Wood made his MLB debut at just 19 years of age. After retiring from baseball, he led a quiet life and worked for a pharmaceutical company, staying out of the spotlight.
Wilbur Wood’s career in MLB
Wilbur Wood had a 17-season professional career in MLB, between 1961 and 1978. He played for the Boston Red Sox, the Pittsburgh Pirates and mainly for the Chicago White Sox, a team with which he spent 12 seasons and became a benchmark.
In 1972, Wood had one of the most extraordinary seasons for a pitcher:
- 376 innings pitched, the highest figure since 1917
- 49 games as a starter, a record that has not been equaled since 1908
These numbers reflect a different era of baseball, but also the exceptional durability of Wood, who led the Major Leagues in games pitched twice and in games started in four seasons.
The knuckleball, Wilbur Wood’s personal trademark
Although he did not seem destined for greatness at the beginning of his career, everything changed when he perfected the knuckleball, an unpredictable and difficult pitch to master. Upon arriving in Chicago, he worked closely with Hoyt Wilhelm, considered one of the best knuckleball pitchers in history.
“If I was going to throw the knuckleball, I had to forget about the rest of my pitches,” Wood recalled in an interview. That advice was decisive: from then on, his career took off.
Wood was a three-time American League All-Star and achieved four seasons with at least 20 wins, an increasingly rare feat in modern MLB.
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