1975 IN-ACTION: WILBUR WOOD

Up on the blog this fine day we have a 1975 "In-Action" card for Chicago White Sox ace Wilbur Wood, innings-machine who had himself quite a run in the mid-70s:

The reliever-turned-starter strung four straight 20-win seasons for the Chicago White Sox after some pretty amazing years coming out of the bullpen in the late-60’s, with three top-5 Cy Young finishes between 1971-1973.
His 1972 season is the stuff of legends, as he started 49 games, knuckling his way through an astounding 376.2 innings!!!
The following season he worked another 359.1 innings on 48 starts, equaling his 24 wins from the year prior and leading the American League once again.
I’ve also always been fascinated with his 1968 season when, appearing in 88 games, all but two as a reliever, he went 13-12 with a microscopic 1.87 earned run average, with 16 saves over 159 innings pitched.
The man was incredible no matter where his team used him!
Sadly for him however, when you’re pitching during the same era as Jim Palmer, Jim Hunter, etc, you’ll tend to get lost in the shuffle, thus the Cy Young snubs each year.
By the time he retired after the 1978 season, Wood finished with a 164-156 record, appearing in 651 games, with 297 of them starts.
He’d have a final ERA of 3.24, with 24 career shutouts, 1411 strikeouts and 57 saves over 2684 innings pitched.
He led his league in pitching appearances three times, all consecutive, then went on to lead the league in starts four years in a row soon after.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER: 1977 WILBUR WOOD

I recently found a very nice image of former Chicago White Sox pitcher Wilbur Wood in-action and thought it would make for a nice "do-over" for his original airbrushed 1977 card, so here goes:

Redone custom version

Original issued Topps card

Just a fun action shot of the knuckleball pitcher serving up a pitch as opposed to the up-close airbrushed shot Topps originally used on their card.

The reliever-turned-starter strung four straight 20-win seasons for the Chicago White Sox after some pretty amazing years coming out of the bullpen in the late-60’s, with three top-5 Cy Young finishes between 1971-1973.
His 1972 season is the stuff of legends, as he started 49 games, knuckling his way through an astounding 376.2 innings!!!
The following season he worked another 359.1 innings on 48 starts, equaling his 24 wins from the year prior and leading the American League once again.
I’ve also always been fascinated with his 1968 season when, appearing in 88 games, all but two as a reliever, he went 13-12 with a microscopic 1.87 earned run average, with 16 saves over 159 innings pitched.
The man was incredible no matter where how team used him!
Sadly for him however, when you’re pitching during the same era as Jim Palmer, Jim Hunter, etc, you’ll tend to get lost in the shuffle, thus the Cy Young snubs each year.
By the time he retired after the 1978 season, Wood finished with a 164-156 record, appearing in 651 games, with 297 of them starts.
He’d have a final ERA of 3.24, with 24 career shutouts, 1411 strikeouts and 57 saves over 2684 innings pitched.
He led his league in pitching appearances three times, all consecutive, then went on to lead the league in starts four years in a row soon after.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1974 A.L. WINS

On the blog today to close out another week, my 1974 expanded league leader card for the American League's top three winners of 1973:

 

Leading the pack is Chicago White Sox knuckleball wizard Wilbur Wood, who had an insane run in the mid-70's.

For the 1973 season Wood led the league for the second year in a row with 24 wins, while he also led with his 48 STARTS and 359.1 innings pitched.

Yep, you read that right! The man tossed what would today be almost TWO seasons' worth of innings for today's starters in one season.

And to top it off that wasn't even close to his 1972 innings total, when he pitched an astounding 376.2 innings over 49 starts, throwing eight shutouts while going 24-17.

A converted reliever, I always thought his 1968 season for Chicago was one of the all-time great reliever seasons when he went 13-12 over 88 appearances, with a sparkling 1.87 ERA and 16 saves over 159 innings of work.

Just amazing!

Right behind Wood with 23 wins in 1973 was Detroit Tigers pitcher Joe Coleman, who set a career-high after winning 19 and 20 wins the previous two years.

Coleman, another workhorse, started 40 games for the Tigers, completing 13 and throwing two shutouts on his way to a 3.53 ERA over 288.1 innings, striking out 202 batters, the third straight year he topped 200 K's.

In 1974 he'd go 14-12 over 41 starts, throwing 285.2 innings with a 4.32 ERA, but it seems the heavy workload took its toll, as he would fall big-time in 1975, going 10-18 with a bloated 5.55 ERA over 31 starts before becoming an arm out of the bullpen for the remaining four years of his 15-year career.

In third place with 22 wins, Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, who topped 20+ wins eight years during the 1970's. Just amazing.

It was the fourth straight year Palmer reached 20 wins, going 22-9 with a league-leading 2.40 ERA over 38 appearances, all but one starts, with six shutouts and 158 strikeouts.

Those numbers got Palmer his first Cy Young Award, and a second place finish in the MVP race.

Of course we all know he'd go on to win two more Cy's, while finishing second twice more along with a third place finish thrown in.

One of the All-Time greats!

Well there you have it, the top winners in the Junior Circuit for 1973, celebrated here.

EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 A.L. VICTORIES

This week's "Expanded League Leader" card is one for the American League's top three winning pitchers of 1972. Three studs if there ever were any:

 

We begin with the two tied for first with 24 wins each, knuckle-baller Wilbur Wood and Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry.

For Wood, it was his second of four straight 20-win seasons, as he was racking up the innings with an astounding 376.2 in 1972. Think about that for a minute!

The man STARTED 49 games for the Chicago White Sox, completing 20 of them, tossing eight shutouts along the way and striking out 193, with a final record of 24-17.

All of those numbers were good enough for a second place finish in the Cy Young race at the end of the year because of the next guy, Gaylord Perry.

Perry, who led the National League in wins in 1970 with 23 as a member of the San Francisco Giants, took to his new league immediately, winning 24 games for the Cleveland Indians, finishing with a record of 24-16 over 41 appearances, 40 of those starts, with a brilliant 1.92 earned run average and five shutouts.

He too racked up the innings, completing 29 of those starts and finishing with 342.2 innings of work, with 234 strikeouts.

THOSE numbers would be the ones that brought home a Cy Young Award, the first of his two over his storied career.

Next up with 22 wins is the league leader from 1971, Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich, who would have won himself a Cy Young of not for the previous two guys, as he'd finish the year with a record of 22-14 over 41 starts, completing 23 of them and tossing yet again an incredible 327.1 innings with four shutouts and 250 strikeouts.

It would get him a third place finish in the Cy Young race, this after his incredible 1971 season which saw him finish second after leading the league with 25 wins, throwing an astounding 376 innings when he completed 29 of 45 starts, striking out a leading 308 batters while throwing four shutouts.

Three workhorses who really put up astounding numbers in 1972!

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970s- 1975 WILBUR WOOD

Up on the blog today we have a 1975 “Nickname” card for Wilbur Wood, aka “Wilbah”, who had himself quite a run in the early part of the 1970’s:

The reliever-turned-starter strung four straight 20-win seasons for the Chicago White Sox after some pretty amazing years coming out of the bullpen in the late-60’s, with three top-5 Cy Young finishes between 1971-1973.
His 1972 season is the stuff of legends, as he started 49 games, knuckling his way through an astounding 376.2 innings!!!
The following season he worked another 359.1 innings on 48 starts, equaling his 24 wins from the year prior and leading the American League once again.
I’ve also always been fascinated with his 1968 season when, appearing in 88 games, all but two as a reliever, he went 13-12 with a microscopic 1.87 earned run average, with 16 saves over 159 innings pitched.
The man was incredible no matter where how team used him!
Sadly for him however, when you’re pitching during the same era as Jim Palmer, Jim Hunter, etc, you’ll tend to get lost in the shuffle, thus the Cy Young snubs each year.
By the time he retired after the 1978 season, Wood finished with a 164-156 record, appearing in 651 games, with 297 of them starts.
He’d have a final ERA of 3.24, with 24 career shutouts, 1411 strikeouts and 57 saves over 2684 innings pitched.
He led his league in pitching appearances three times, all consecutive, then went on to lead the league in starts four years in a row soon after.

 

 

1973 SPECIAL: THE KNUCKLING CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Found another great image from the 1970’s and had to create a 1973 special for it: Chicago White Sox pitching coach Johnny Sain posing with pitchers Wilbur Wood and Eddie Fisher and their knuckle-ball grips:

Just an awesome shot of the legendary Sain, former pitching star of the 1940’s and 1950’s, along with an effective reliever in Fisher from the 1960’s, and Wood, who was doing some incredible things in the mid-70’s.
While Fisher was wrapping up a very nice 15-year Major League career as a relief pitcher, Wood was in the middle of a ridiculous run where he’d post four-straight 20-win seasons, with over 300 innings pitched each time, with an astronomical 376.2 thrown in 1972, good for top-5 finishes for the Cy Young Award three straight years between 1971 and 1973.
It’s also worth noting that just a few years earlier, in 1968., Wood also had one of the great RELIEF pitching seasons of all-time when he appeared in 88 games, going 13-12 with a sparkling 1.87 ERA over 159 innings pitched along with 16 saves.
Nevertheless, just a great photo of pretty much three eras of the game represented in one shot!
I love creating these “specials”. Just too much fun...

THEN AND NOW: WILBUR WOOD 1964-1979

One of the more interesting careers during the 1970’s, my next player for the “Super Veteran’s-Then and Now” thread is former knuckle-baller Wilbur Wood.
Check out the card first:

Four straight seasons of 300+ innings, including an incredible 376.2 in 1972 when he posted a 24-17 record with a 2.51 earned run average in 49 starts! INSANE!
He also threw eight shutouts and struck out 193 batters along with 20 complete games.
You have to remember that just two seasons before, in 1970, he led the league in appearances with 77, ALL out of the bullpen, while posting 21 saves.
The man could do it all!
In 1968, while leading the league once again with 88 appearances and 46 finished games, he threw for 159 innings and posted a sparkling 1.87 ERA along with a 13-12 record, and three years later in 1971 he’d go on to post a sub-2.00 ERA as a starter, throwing seven shutouts while posting a 22-13 record in his first year as a full-time starter, a year that also started his incredible innings run.
It’s just amazing to think that someone threw all those innings in one season during my lifetime in this day of pitch-counts and specialty relievers.
By the time he retired after the 1978 season, Wood finished with a 164-156 record, appearing in 651 games, with 297 of them starts.
He’d have a final ERA of 3.24, with 24 career shutouts, 1411 strikeouts and 57 saves over 2684 innings pitched.
He led his league in pitching appearances three times, all consecutive, then went on to lead the league in starts four years in a row soon after.
Awesome!

A MYSTERY FROM 1977- WILBUR WOOD AND THE AIRBRUSHING ON HIS CARD

Just noticed something the other day, and it really has me confused: why on earth is Wilbur Wood airbrushed into a Chicago White Sox uni on his 1977 Topps card?

Take a look:

At that point Wood was a White Sox player for NINE years already. So why was there any need to airbrush him into a White Sox uniform?

Anyone out there know?

I know that in 1976 Wood barely suited up for the Sox, so perhaps there weren't many photos of him in the new "updated" blue uniforms. 

But he still pitched 56.1 innings that year.

You'd think Topps would have been able to snap a shot of him to use, no?

It's especially funny when you also note that Jack Kucek, he of two games and 4.2 innings of work the previous year is suited up in the White Sox blue and whites without any need to airbrush.

Would love to know what went on here…

MISSING IN ACTION-"IN ACTION" #32: 1972 WILBUR WOOD

Time for "Wilbah", White Sox pitcher Wilbur Wood to get a "missing" in-action card in the 1972 set.

Take a look:

In 1971 Wood started an incredible four year run where he'd top 20 wins, top 40 starts, and top 300+ innins of work each and every year.

But it was just how MANY starts and innings he compiled in that time that is wild.

In 1971 he had 42 starts with 334 innings, 1972 was 49 starts with 376.2, 1973 was 48 starts with 359.1 innings and 1974 was 42 starts with 320.1!

Unreal!

Granted, relying on a knuckleball took some of the wear and tear off the arm, but nevertheless looking at those numbers are hilarious!

Between 1971 and 1973 he finished in the top-5 in Cy Young voting each time, with a second-place finish in 1972 behind Gaylord Perry.

He even finished top-10 in M.V.P. voting in 1971 and 1972, finishing 9th and 7th respectively.

After nine years of working out of the bullpen, Wood found himself as a starter in 1971 and responded brilliantly!

He'd post a 22-13 record with a sparkling 1.91 E.R.A., 22 complete games, seven shutouts and 210 strikeouts.

This after leading the American League in appearances with 77 (with no starts), while racking up 21 saves.

His 1968 season out of the bullpen for the ChiSox was also fantastic, as he posted a 13-12 record with a 1.87 E.R.A. and 16 saves while appearing in a league-leading 88 games with 159.0 innings pitched. ALL in relief!

Anyway, by the time Wood was retired after the 1978 season, he finished with a 164-156 record, with a 3.24 earned run average, 24 shutouts, 57 saves and 1411 strikeouts over 651 games, 297 of which were starts.

***Thanks to reader Joe Sabatino I realized that Wood actually HAD an "In Action" card in the 1972 set. I have no clue how I missed that one.
Ah well, I'm going to whiff every once in a while...
Thanks Joe for the heads up!