 Joe Wood
Boston A.L.
 Lifetime 2.03 ERA, 28
Shutouts
1912: 34-5 (#1 AL), 1.91
ERA, 35 Complete Games, (10 Shutouts)
1923-42: Coached Yale
University
JOE WOOD
Wood, Joe "Smokey Joe" (b: Howard Ellsworth Wood)
b: 10/25/1889, Kansas City, Mo. d: 7/27/85, West Haven, Conn
BR/TR, 5'11", 180 lbs. Deb: 8/24/08
Pitching Career:
==============================================================================
YEAR TM/L W L PCT G GS CG SH SV IP H HR BB
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1908 Bos-A 1 1 .500 6 2 1 1 0 22^2 14 0 16
1909 Bos-A 11 7 .611 24 19 13 4 0 160^2 121 1 43
1910 Bos-A 12 13 .480 35 17 14 3 0 198^2 155 3 56
1911 Bos-A 23 17 .575 44 33 25 5 3 275^2 226 2 76
1912 *Bos-A 34 5 .872 43 38 35 10 1 344 267 2 82
1913 Bos-A 11 5 .688 23 18 12 1 2 145^2 120 0 61
1914 Bos-A 9 3 .750 18 14 11 1 1 113^1 94 1 34
1915 Bos-A 15 5 .750 25 16 10 3 2 157^1 120 1 44
1917 Cle-A 0 1 .000 5 1 0 0 1 15^2 17 0 7
1919 Cle-A 0 0 -- 1 0 0 0 1 0^2 0 0 0
1920 *Cle-A 0 0 -- 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 11 116 57 .671 225 158 121 28 11 1436^1 1138 10 421
Hitting Career:
==============================================================================
YEAR TM/L G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1908 Bos-A 6 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1909 Bos-A 24 55 4 9 0 1 0 3 2 .164
1910 Bos-A 35 69 9 18 2 1 1 5 5 .261
1911 Bos-A 44 88 15 23 4 2 2 11 10 .261
1912 *Bos-A 43 124 16 36 13 1 1 13 11 .290
1913 Bos-A 24 56 10 15 5 0 0 10 4 7 .268
1914 Bos-A 21 43 2 6 1 0 0 1 3 14 .140
1915 Bos-A 29 54 6 14 1 1 1 7 5 10 .259
1917 Cle-A 10 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000
1918 Cle-A 119 422 41 125 22 4 5 66 36 38 .296
1919 Cle-A 72 192 30 49 10 6 0 27 32 21 .255
1920 *Cle-A 61 137 25 37 11 2 1 30 25 16 .270
1921 Cle-A 66 194 32 71 16 5 4 60 25 17 .366
1922 Cle-A 142 505 74 150 33 8 8 92 50 63 .297
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Total 14 696 1952 266 553 118 31 23 325 208 ?189 .283
Smokey Joe could have been one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. He had an
awsome curve ball and a bullet fast ball. Those were the only 2 pitches he threw. The 'Big Train' Walter Johnson,
Hall of Fame pitcher, said that 'no man alive could throw as hard' as Smokey Joe. 1912 was truly a remarkable season
for Wood. That year he won 34 games including 16 straight for the Bosox, 10 of those by shutouts, equalling Walter
Johnson's record set in the same season. His spectacular season continued into the Fall Classic as he won 3 games
in the World Series, including 1 game in relief. In 1913, during spring training, he broke his thumb fielding a
ground ball. Smokey Joe came back too fast from the injury and subsequently hurt his pitching shoulder and was
never the same pitcher, again. Even though his pitching feats of 1915, including a league-leading ERA of 1.49 showed
his massive heart and stamina, he was pitching in agony throughout the season. His sore arm prevented him from
playing in 1916. Most baseball careers would have ended at this point, except for Joe's. Like the Phoenix rising
out of the fire, Joe's career came to life again. Tris Speaker,
manager of the Cleveland Indians (and a former teammate of Wood), knew how good an all-around athlete Joe was.
Taking a chance, Speaker hired Wood for the 1917 season and played him in the outfield. In 1918, Wood showed his
athleticism and hitting ability as he hit .296 playing both in the outfield and at second base. In 1920, Wood alternated
in the outfield and had another fine season as Cleveland went on to win the World Championship. His best year was
his last in 1922 after which Joe hung up his spikes to spend more time with his family. He was hired in 1923 to
coach the Yale University baseball team.
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