Michael Burton Wood (born April 26, 1980) 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played all or parts of five seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB), and one in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB), from 2003-08.

Career

Wood graduated from Forest Hill Community School in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

, in 1997 and then went on to attend the University of North Florida. He was drafted by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

in the tenth round (311th overall) of the

2001 Major League Baseball Draft The 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round Selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban ba ...

. Wood made his major league debut on August 21, 2003, with the Athletics. The

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

acquired Wood on June 24, 2004, from the Athletics as part of the three-team trade that sent Carlos Beltrán to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. Kansas City immediately promoted him from Triple-A and put him in their starting rotation, where he compiled a 3–8 record with a 5.94 ERA in 17 starts. Wood spent the early part of the 2005 season in the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

, but was used as an emergency starter when Brian Anderson went on the 15-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. On October 11, 2006, Wood was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers, but was not tendered a contract for the 2007 season, making him a free agent. He was then signed to a minor league contract (with an invitation to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

) with the Rangers later in the off-season, and made the 2007 opening day roster. In 2008, Wood played for the Yokohama BayStars of the NPB. In January 2009, he signed a minor league contract with the Florida Marlins. In May 2009, the Marlins released Wood. On September 1, Wood signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. He was granted free agency on November 9. He played for the

Rockford RiverHawks The Rockford Aviators were a professional baseball team based in Rockford, Illinois that played in the independent Frontier League. Rockford previously had a team in the Frontier League called the RiverHawks (2002-2009). There was no Rockford tea ...

in the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

in 2019.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Mike 1980 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball players from Florida Forest Hill Community High School alumni Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Midland RockHounds players Modesto A's players New Orleans Zephyrs players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers North Florida Ospreys baseball players Oakland Athletics players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Oklahoma RedHawks players Omaha Royals players Rockford RiverHawks players Sacramento River Cats players Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida Texas Rangers players Vancouver Canadians players Wichita Wranglers players Yokohama BayStars players