Wilbur Wood talks about his unicorn White Sox career

The White Sox Podcast w/ Chuck Garfien

Chicago Sports Network

Sports, Sports:baseball, Baseball

4.4 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 11 January 2022

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What was it like to throw over 300 innings in a season or 14 innings in one day--and never need arm surgery? Chuck Garfien speaks with former White Sox knuckleballer Wilbur Wood about his extraordinary career in the 1960's and 1970's. They talk about why his knuckleball was so tough to hit, how he was able to start games on only two days rest, if knuckleballers will ever return to the game, and more. Chuck has been wanting to interview Wilbur for years. It finally happened!(4:00) - The magic of the knuckleball. How did Wilbur throw it?(13:15) - How was he was able to throw so many innings?(20:10) - Why aren't there any knuckleball pitchers in the game today?(33:00) - How he became a knuckleball pitcher with the White Sox

Transcript

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0:00.0	Quality stat, yeah, that's the greatest thing that's sliced bread, the guy having a quality
0:09.0	stat.
0:10.0	I wish the hell I was paid on quality stats and not on wins and losses.
0:17.0	You would have made millions, billions, Wilbur Wood.
0:20.0	There is a big You would have made millions, billions, Wilbur Wood.
0:27.9	There is a baseball unicorn living among us,
0:31.0	and his name is Wilbur Wood.
0:34.5	The former White Sox knuckleballer did things on the mound that were radical in the 1960s and 70s.
0:37.7	And when you compare him to pitchers today, you're going to think Wilbur came from another planet.
0:43.9	He's our guest today on the White Sox Talk podcast, brought to you by WinTrust.
0:49.2	Hey, everyone, it's Chuck Garfine, and what made Wilbur so unique?
0:54.3	Where to begin?
0:55.9	How about this? From 1971 to 1974, he threw well over 300 innings every season,
1:02.5	often making starts on only two days' rest.
1:07.5	It's a big deal today when a pitcher makes one start on three days rest. Wilbur was throwing on
1:13.4	two days rest for almost the entire season. In 1972, he finished in second place for the AL-Sai-Young
1:20.4	award throwing eight innings or more 29 times. Robbie Ray, who won the Syong Award last year
1:27.4	through eight-nings or more once.
1:30.3	It was a different game back then. And Wilbur Wood, as a left-handed knuckleballer, was a human
1:36.5	pitching machine, baffling the best hitters in the game, and he never had any arm injuries
1:44.0	either.
1:45.1	I've been wanting to interview Wilbur for years to ask him about his career, some of
	...

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