It is tough to walk away from the game, regardless of the sport, when you are a successful professional athlete.
Far too often, we see professionals stay in their chosen game to the point that they nearly ruin their legacy.
That will not be the case for Alex Wood, who has decided to hang it up after 12 seasons in Major League Baseball.
Wood was drafted in the second round of the 2012 MLB draft by the Atlanta Braves.
The Braves gave him a $700,000 signing bonus, so they clearly saw the potential in his arm, and he started off in Class A ball in the Southern Atlantic League.
In A ball, he finished with a 2.22 ERA and 4-3 record, so he was promoted to AA ball, where he lit it up again, having a 4-2 record with a 1.26 ERA.
Wood was promoted to the majors in June 2013. He lost his first game, but only gave up one earned run, putting the league on notice that he had arrived. He finished his first full season in the majors with an 11-11 record, an impressive 2.78 ERA, and 170 strikeouts.
Wood played with the Braves through the middle of the 2015 season, when he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a multi-team trade.
He would stay with the Dodgers until 2018, then played for the Cincinnati Reds in the 2019 season, returning to the Dodgers for the 2020 season, where he won a World Series. He moved on to San Francisco through the 2023 season, then finished up with the Oakland Athletics in the 2024 season, where it was revealed he would need a season-ending shoulder surgery about halfway through the year.
In some cases, a change of scenery works to revive a player, but Wood was pitching very well up until he moved to Cincinnati, where he posted his second-highest ERA of his career. His worst was the following season when he returned to the Dodgers, posting a 6.39 ERA.
The move to San Francisco initially worked, once again under a 4.00 ERA, but he struggled the next three years, never posting a sub-4.00 ERA again.
If Wood had been in the prime of his career, he would probably have done the full rehab and returned to baseball, but at his age and with how his career has been going before the injury, I have to say, his retirement does not surprise me.
He stated, “For over half my life, every decision I’ve made has centered around how it would impact my baseball career. I’ve given every ounce of myself in pursuit of my lifelong dream of becoming a big leaguer. Playing 12 years in the show, reaching 7 postseasons, winning a World Series, and earning an All-Star selection — I never could’ve imagined it would turn out this way.”
He concluded, “To the Braves, Dodgers, Reds, Giants and Athletics — and your incredible fans — THANK YOU. Playing for five iconic franchises and becoming part of those communities is something my family and I will always cherish.”
I am a rather large baseball fan, and I can remember watching Wood pitch when he was at his best, and he was just as good as anyone out there, while not always getting a lot of offensive support. He easily could have had another dozen wins, or more, on his record had that been the case. But it is time to step away, and I give him props for realizing it was simply time to go.