Gerald C. Wood - Smoky Joe Wood: The Biography of a Baseball Legend

A thorough and lively account of the career of Joe Wood. W. T. LINDLEY , Choice

An impeccably researched and poignant account of a great athlete and even greater man. MARK HODERMARSKY , Cleveland.com

Gerald Wood sweeps away the smoke of history to provide a clear, detailed, and poignant biography of the legendary pitcher. In these pages Wood comes to life. We meet not only a remarkable baseball player but also an unforgettable man. GLENN STOUT , author of the award-winning Fenway 1912

A stunning account of the life of the best baseball player not in the Hall of Fame. JOHN VORPERIAN , Southern New England Chapter, Society for American Baseball Research

The first full-scale biography of a great pitcher whose mound career was ruined by arm trouble and who then reinvented himself as a fine outfielder. A member of three World Series champions, Joe Wood lived a fascinating life. Its a life well rendered by someone who clearly loves his subject. CHARLES C. ALEXANDER , Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at Ohio University and author of thirteen books on history and baseball

If I could have been one twentieth-century sports figure, I would like to have been Smoky Joe Wood in 1912. All that talent and all that common sense combined in one package and all showcased in a baseball-mad city. BOB RYAN , Boston Globe sports columnist and author of When Boston Won the World Series

2013 by Gerald C. Wood
An earlier version of appeared as Doctor
Smoke: Joe Wood, Yale University, and the 1926 Baseball
Controversy, in Baseball/Literature/Culture: Essays, 2006 2007 ,
2008, ed. Ronald E. Kates and Warren Tormey, pp.
13038. Used by permission of McFarland & Company, Inc.,
Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640, www.mcfarlandpub.com.
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wood, Gerald C.
Smoky Joe Wood: the biography of a baseball
legend / Gerald C. Wood.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8032-4499-3 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8032-7841-7 (paper: alk. paper)
1. Wood, Howard Ellsworth, 18891985. 2. Baseball
playersUnited StatesBiography. I. Title.
GV 865. W 66 W 66 2013
796.357092dc23 [B]2012040000

Set in Minion by Laura Wellington.
Designed by Roger Buchholz.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

For Edra

Illustrations

Gallery One following page 120

Acknowledgments

First thanks go to Robert K. Wood, Joes youngest son and keeper of the Smoky Joe flame. Bob shared his archives and, despite suffering from emphysema, courageously endured a rainy, exhausting trip to Shohola, Pennsylvania, and the Baseball Hall of Fame. While deeply concerned for the health of his wife, Connie, Bob supported this book, providing essential information and images. Baseball lost a warm-hearted advocate when Bob died on May 31, 2009.

Once oriented in my research, I retraced the path of Smoky Joes career. Good friends Andy Hazucha and Emily Hester offered their home in Lawrence, Kansas, as a launching pad for my side trips in Kansas and Missouri. Traveling west to Ness City, Kansas, I enjoyed a day at the Ness County Historical Society and places associated with the John F. Wood family. Michele OToole at the Ness City Public Library provided pictures and articles from local papers. In Hutchinson, Kansas, Barbara Ulrich-Hicks of the Reno County Museum introduced the town and its baseball. Crucially, in Kansas City, after visiting the Kansas City Public Library, I met Jim Swint. After we explored baseball sites, including Blues Park, he shared his seminal research on Joe Wood. Thanks, Jim, for your generosity.

In anticipation of a trip to Ouray, Colorado, I contacted the Ouray County Historical Society, whose members invited my wife and me to the dedication of Joe Wood Park there. Alas, we missed that ceremony by two weeks, but when we arrived in Ouray, representatives of the County Museum had rounded up local artifacts, including the Ouray Times , edited by Joes father. (Years later archivist Glenda Moore and director Maria Jones kindly answered further inquiries.) On our way to Ouray, we visited Durango, where Duane Smith, history professor at Fort Lewis College, shared his expertise on Joes days in Colorado.

Trips to Boston and New England were essential to understanding Smoky Joes Red Sox years. Dick Johnson, author and curator of the New England Sports Museum, opened the Bill Carrigan scrapbooks and talked brilliantly of Smoky Joe. At the Boston Public Library, Roberta Zonghi and Aaron Schmidt gave access to the McGreevey collection. Geoff Zonder, former sports archivist at Yale, kindly granted access to Joe Wood materials at the university. While I was in New Haven, Leo Cooney, chief of geriatric medicine at Yale Medical School, described Joes final illness. Connecticuts Smoky Joe Wood Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research ( SABR ) and its president, Steve Krevisky, gave unqualified support.

I am especially thankful to the Joe Wood family. Rob, Bobs older son, and his wife, Lucy; his brother Jeffrey of Monterey, California; and their sister, Durinda, a costume designer in Hollywood, have repeatedly shared their time and memories. In Milford, Pennsylvania, David Wood and his wife, Cyndi, discussed family history and even let me hold Joes hunting rifles. Richard Wood of Juneau, Alaska, who (like David) is a son of Joe Frank Wood, offered vivid impressions by phone and mail. Sensitive reflections were also offered by Carol Wood, Virginia Wood Whitney, Gary Whitney, and Sandy Theimer, daughterin-law of Zo, Joes sister. Thanks to the many other helpful Woods I met at Bobs memorial.

Phone interviews aided immensely. Crucial were Fay Vincent Jr. on his fathers Yale years under Coach Joe Wood and the 192627 controversy and former Yale secretary John Wilkinson on the honorary doctorate. Frank Durham remembered summers in the Twin Lakes area; George Fluhr re-created the history and myths of Pike County, Pennsylvania; Tim Gay discussed the Speaker-Wood relationship; Ken Berg shared his enthusiasm for Smoky Joes legacy; and Roger Angell reflected on his visits with Smoky Joe. Joes appearance in Field of Dreams was explained by writer/director Phil Alden Robinson, and John and Tom Begin reminisced about life with Joe Wood on Marvel Road.

Many others helped remove specific roadblocks. Kevin Johnson of Sports Artifacts and Drew Boyd of cmg aided initial contacts in the Wood family. Robert T. Lord gave useful directions to the Wood family cemetery. The Kansas Historical Society researched Logan Galbreath and the Kansas City Bloomer Girls, and I profited from the sage advice of Leslie Heaphy, Barbara Gregorich, and Deb Shattuck on the Bloomer Girls. The Levi Travises, senior and junior, helped me locate Indian Camp and referred me to Mike McConnell, who brought the camp alive. The Chicago History Museum helped find the Wood family in the Windy City. I also appreciate Dorothy Moon, archivist at the Zane Grey Museum, and author Thomas Pauly for background on Zane Grey. In Milford, Pennsylvania, Lori Strelecki opened files at the Pike County Historical Society, and Reverend David A. Repenning and Carolyn Krejmas introduced me to Milford United Methodist Church, where Joe and Laura were married.