Jacob Wood Jr. (born June 22, 1937) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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who appeared in 608 games over seven seasons in

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with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1961–1967) and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

(1967), primarily as a second baseman. He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He was born in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

, the second oldest child and oldest son of nine children of Jacob Sr. and Roberta Wood. Wood grew up in an integrated neighborhood, learned to play

stickball Stickball is a street game similar to baseball, usually formed as a pick-up game played in large cities in the Northeastern United States, especially New York City and Philadelphia. The equipment consists of a broom handle and a rubber ball, ...

and baseball as a youth, and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1955. He earned a scholarship to

Delaware State University Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Dover, Delaware. DSU also has two satellite campuses: one in Wilmington and one in Georgetown. The university encompasses four col ...

Dover, Delaware Dover () is the capital and second-largest city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and the principal city of the Dover, DE, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part of ...

, and he played one season of college ball. Wood was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers in early 1957. He attended Detroit's minor league camp in Lakeland, Florida, worked his way up through the Tigers' system, and batted more than .300 with five teams in the minors. Jake made his major league debut at age 23 on the Tigers' season-opener on April 11, 1961, starting at second base and batting leadoff in a 9–5 home loss to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

. Facing Indians pitcher

Jim Perry James Perry may refer to: * James Perry (journalist) (1756–1821), journalist * James Franklin Perry (1790–1853), early Texas settler (with wife Emily Austin Perry) * Jimmy Perry (1923–2016), English actor and scriptwriter * James E. C. Perry ...

for the fourth time in the game during the seventh inning, the hard-hitting Wood collected his first career hit in a big way with a two-run home run that scored Bobo Osborne. Wood was the first African-American starter developed by Detroit's organization, but when right-handed pitcher Jim Proctor debuted for Detroit on September 14, 1959, he became the first black player developed by the Tigers' system. Quiet, agile, and talented, Wood remained the Tigers' starting second baseman from to . He was third in the American League in

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in 1961 (30), (24), and 1963 (18). During his rookie season in 1961, Wood was also among the American League leaders in runs (96), hits (171), and games (162). He led the AL in

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

in 1961 with 14 and in strikeouts with 141—at the time, the record for most strikeouts in a season. Wood injured a finger late July 1963, and he missed the rest of the season. Starting in 1964, after Detroit acquired veteran second baseman Jerry Lumpe, Wood was a

utility infielder In baseball, a utility player is a player who typically does not have the offensive abilities to justify a regular starting role on the team but is capable of playing more than one defensive position. These players are able to give the various st ...

and backup second baseman. He remained a reserve for the rest of his career, for example, playing in 98 games and hitting .252 in 1966. On June 23, 1967, during his seventh season with the Tigers, his contract was purchased by the Reds, for whom he played 16 games, with his final major league career appearance coming on August 11, 1967. Jake ended his major league career with a .250 batting average with 35 home runs, 168 runs batted in and 70 stolen bases. His brother, Richard Wood, played professional football from 1975 to 1984 with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. Jake lives in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

where, as of 2012, he continued to remain active, playing in over-70 softball leagues and tournaments as well as playing racquetball. He also mentors inmates at the

Escambia County, Florida Escambia County is the westernmost and oldest county in the U.S. state of Florida. It is in the state's northwestern corner. At the 2020 census, the population was 321,905. Its county seat and largest city is Pensacola. Escambia County is incl ...

jail as part of the "A Will and a Way" ministry, and he participates in Tigers' reunions, autograph shows, and fantasy camps as well as

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

events. Wood is a member of the

Union County, New Jersey Union County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 575,345, making it the seventh-most populous of New Jersey's 21 counties. Its county seat is Elizabeth.

Baseball Hall of Fame.

References

External links

"Wood's path to big leagues a first for Tigers"
from MLB.com
"Wood was the first African-American star for the Tigers"
from Detroit Athletic
"Jake Wood, Tigers Pioneer, Remembered"
from the Michigan Chronicle
"Remembering Former Detroit Tiger Jake Wood"
from Hour Detroit

from MLive.com * ttps://motorcitybengals.com/2016/01/18/detroit-tigers-celebrating-african-american-players-on-mlk-day "Detroit Tigers: Celebrating African-American Players on MLK Day"from Fansided
Interview with Jake Wood
by WEBN-TV
Interview with Jake Wood
from the Tigers History Podcast {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Jake 1937 births Living people African-American baseball players Baseball players from New Jersey Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cincinnati Reds players Delaware State Hornets baseball players Denver Bears players Detroit Tigers players Durham Bulls players Erie Sailors players Fox Cities Foxes players Idaho Falls Russets players Knoxville Smokies players Major League Baseball second basemen Montgomery Rebels players Portland Beavers players Sportspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey Thomas Jefferson High School (New Jersey) alumni Toledo Mud Hens players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople

See also

References

External links