Rest In Peace Wilbur Wood

Our second former major leaguer to leave us in 2026 is former White Sox, Red Sox & Pirates workhorse, Wilbur Wood. He was solid both out of the bullpen and in the rotation.

From 1968-1970, Wood led the AL in relief appearances with a many as 88 in 1968 while carrying a 1.87 ERA. He converted to a starter in 1971 and won 22 games with an astounding 11.7 WAR. His follow up 1972 campaign saw his first of back to back 24 win seasons.

Wood was one of the few knuckleball legends of major league baseball. His career continued on the upswing in 1976 when he suffered a major knee injury on a line drive off the bat of Ron LeFlore. He would recover from the injury but never be himself again. "I just couldn't do what I did before I got hurt," he was quoted as saying. "That took the fun out of it."

Wood was not the first pitcher to see his career tail off after being hit with a line drive and unfortunately will not be the last. It's always unfortunate when such injuries occur.

In spite of all of this, I'll always remember those Red and blue Chicago White Sox uniforms featuring Wilbur Wood, and for that reason, he'll always be a basball card memory. Rest in Peace, WIlbur!