Steve Stone referred to his former Chicago White Sox teammate Wilbur Wood as an “unassuming star.”
“He was one of those guys, just hand him the baseball, he kept on pitching,” Stone said during a conference call on Monday.
Stone and fellow pitcher Jim Kaat reflected on their time with Wood, who died Saturday at 84. Wood spent 17 years in the major leagues, including his final 12 seasons with the White Sox.
Wood utilized the knuckleball to become a dependable force. The left-hander made at least 42 starts in each season from 1971-75. He was a 20-game winner each season from 1971-74.
“It was amazing the years that he had,” said Kaat, a Hall of Famer who pitched for the Sox from portions of the 1973 season through 1975. “He went to the post every three or four days.
“(The workload) fit in well with Wilbur because it kept him sharp. Some days he’d pitch with two days’ rest.”
Wood led the majors in innings pitched in 1972 (376 2/3) and 1973 (359 1/3). He threw 300-plus innings four years in a row (1971-74).
Kaat added with a chuckle, “He probably could have pitched every day, other than his legs would give out a little bit.”
Stone and Wood were teammates in 1973 and again in 1977-78.
“Wilbur used to say to me that he had the best curveball on the team,” Stone said. “And I’d say, ‘Well, why don’t you throw it?’ He’d say, ‘No thanks, I’ll stick with the knuckleball.’ What I learned was, whatever you had as your best pitch, especially if you had one that was fairly close to unhittable when it was executed successfully, go with that pitch.
“A lot of people can throw the knuckleball, they just can’t get it over the plate consistently. Wilbur could do that. Wilbur could throw complete games. He could throw forever. A very valuable man to have on a team.”
Wood earned All-Star honors in 1971, 1972 and 1974.
“As Wilbur began to have success, the influence he had on the guys playing behind him is they knew they would probably get some action because Wilbur was not a strikeout pitcher like a Nolan Ryan,” Kaat said. “He was just a very dependable guy that the White Sox could look forward to going out there every three or four days and giving them six to seven innings.
“Those years he had from a durability standpoint are just incredible.”
Wood finished with a 164-156 record and a 3.24 ERA in 651 career outings (297 starts) for the Boston Red Sox (1961-64), Pittsburgh Pirates (1964-65) and White Sox (1967-78).
“Wilbur showed just what a great weapon (the knuckleball) could be and how you could probably get an extra pitcher on your staff if you carried a guy who could pitch as many innings and as many starts and do all the things that Wilbur could do,” Stone said. “But then again, if everybody could do it, then everybody would be doing it because nobody could hit that pitch. And yet they can’t, so Wilbur made it into an art form.”
Stone said Wood was a “terrific teammate.” Kaat agreed, saying Wood was a “wonderful” teammate.
“A lot of people say you are one way when you come in the game and if you achieve any stardom, all of a sudden, you start to assume that the ‘life revolves around me’ syndrome that happens to some professional athletes,” Stone said. “Wilbur was the antithesis of that guy. He was a plain old guy who came in and had the ability to throw a knuckleball. He obviously got to where he was allowed to throw a knuckleball in the major leagues by throwing regular pitches along the way.
“He suddenly realized he had just adequate stuff, but the knuckleball made him special.”