{"id":416047,"date":"2026-01-19T02:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/416047\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T02:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:46:08","slug":"former-red-sox-pitcher-cambridge-native-and-4-time-mlb-starts-leader-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/416047\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Red Sox Pitcher, Cambridge Native And 4-Time MLB Starts Leader Dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Boston<\/p>\n

DETROIT, MICHIGAN – AUGUST 21: A detailed view of a Boston Red Sox equipment bag sitting in the dugout prior to the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on August 21, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Red Sox 10-5. (Photo by Mark Cunningham\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

MLB Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Founded in 1901, the Boston Red Sox organization has been home to a vast number of legendary baseball players.<\/p>\n

From Ted Williams to Pedro Martinez, there has been a rich history of star players to don a Red Sox jersey. And the franchise has now heard that a former Major League Baseball star who started his career for his hometown Red Sox has now died.<\/p>\n

\u201cWilbur Wood, the Chicago White Sox knuckleballer who started more games and pitched more innings in a season than any pitcher in the last 100 years, died on Saturday in Burlington, Mass. He was 84,\u201d The Athletic\u2019s Victor Mather reported<\/a>. \u201cWood was not just an ironman pitcher, but also an accomplished one, tallying four 20-win seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

ForbesDodgers\u2019 Mookie Betts Announces Retirement DateBy Peter Chawaga<\/a>Chicago White Sox Veteran Wilbur Wood Began Career With Hometown Boston Red Sox<\/p>\n

Wood is best remembered for his knuckleball and endurance. He enjoyed three All-Star nods with the White Sox and led all of MLB in starts four different times. But he got his opportunity with the Red Sox in 1961. Three years later, after persistent struggles, the franchise was ready to cut ties and he joined the Pittsburgh Pirates.<\/p>\n

\u201cA trade from the Red Sox to the Pirates in 1964 at least gave Wood regular bullpen duty during the 1965 season, but after spending the entire 1966 campaign with Pittsburgh\u2019s Triple-A team, he was traded to the White Sox in the move that really unlocked Wood\u2019s career,\u201d Mark Polishuk wrote for MLB Trade Rumors<\/a>. \u201cFuture Hall-of-Famer Hoyt Wilhelm was a member of that Chicago team, and the veteran took Wood under his wing by teaching him some of the tricks of Wilhelm\u2019s knuckleball.\u201d<\/p>\n

ForbesCubs\u2019 Nico Hoerner Breaks Silence On Trade ReportsBy Peter Chawaga<\/a>Massachusetts Native Wilbur Wood Returned Home After Legendary MLB Career<\/p>\n

The change in approach worked wonders for Wood and he enjoyed a 12-year career with the White Sox, racking up nearly 300 career starts and more than 2,600 career innings. He retired after the 1978 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWood\u2019s amazing run of durability ended when his kneecap was broken by a line drive off the bat of the (Detroit) Tigers\u2019 Ron LeFlore in May 1976, which ended his season,\u201d Polishuk wrote. \u201cWood was never the same after the injury, as the southpaw posted a 5.11 ERA over 290 2\/3 innings for Chicago in 1977-78. He decided to retire, concluding his career with a 164-156 record, a 3.24 ERA, 6.5% walk rate, and 12.7% strikeout rate over 651 games and 2,684 innings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wood was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and raised in Belmont, Mass. Even after he left the Red Sox, he maintained a home in the state and worked in the Boston area during the offseason. After his retirement, he purchased a fish market in Belmont and became an account manager for a pharmaceutical company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT, MICHIGAN – AUGUST 21: A detailed view of a Boston Red Sox equipment bag sitting in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[8731,374,363,99,199210],"class_list":{"0":"post-416047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-boston","9":"tag-boston-red-sox","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-wilbur-wood"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}