Wilbur Wood was knuckleballing workhorse that defined an era on the South Side, leaving behind one of the most underrated pitching legacies in Chicago White Sox history.
The Chicago White Sox community was hit with the loss of a legend on Sunday.
Wilbur Wood, a three-time All-Star starting pitcher for the White Sox during the 1970s and one of the most durable arms baseball has ever seen, passed away at the age of 84.
Wood enjoyed a 17-year MLB career, but his best years came on the South Side. The left-hander was selected to the American League All-Star team in 1971, 1972, and 1974, establishing himself as one of the era’s most reliable starters.
His 1971 season was worthy of the AL Cy Young Award. Wood led all of baseball with an 11.7 WAR and posted a remarkable 1.92 ERA across an astonishing 334 innings pitched. Despite those numbers, he finished third in Cy Young voting.
Wood somehow managed to follow that up with even heavier workloads. In both 1972 and 1973, he led the American League in wins with 24 each season. He also paced the league in innings pitched, throwing 376.2 innings in 1972 and 359.1 in 1973 — totals that are virtually unthinkable in today’s game.
In fact, Wood recorded four straight seasons with the White Sox in which he won at least 20 games and logged more than 300 innings. It was a legendary run on the South Side.
During his prime, there was nobody in baseball better at eating innings for his club while still delivering strong performances and consistently quality starts. Wood wasn’t just durable — he was dominant.
“People said I didn't get sore because all I threw was the knuckleball, but that's not true,” Wood told Sports Illustrated in a 2019 interview. “I'd get stiff and sore, and in those days pitchers never used ice. I didn't get as sore as if I was throwing, say, a slider, because I wasn't putting the pressure on my elbow and shoulder, but I did get sore.”
What makes Wood’s career even more remarkable is how it began. A Massachusetts native, he signed with his hometown Boston Red Sox and made his MLB debut at just 19 years old. At the time, he wasn’t even throwing the knuckleball.
That pitch — the one that would define his career — didn’t arrive until after he was traded to the Chicago White Sox. From there, everything changed.
By the time his career came to a close, Wood compiled a 164–156 record with a 3.24 ERA across 2,684 innings pitched. He ranks in the top five in White Sox franchise history in wins, games pitched, innings pitched, and strikeouts. He also received Hall of Fame votes on six separate ballots.
An all-time legend. An incredible underdog success story. Wilbur Wood will be missed.