• Card series: Pilgrims
• City: Boston
• Team: Red Sox
• League: American League

Howard Ellsworth “Smoky Joe” Wood (1889-1985) was honored at age 95 with a doctorate from Yale, the institution for whom he coached for 20 years following his ML career. In 1912 for the Red Sox, Wood joined an elite list of 30-game winners, going 34-5. In one of the most dramatic duels ever, Wood defeated Walter Johnson 1-0, himself fresh off a 16-game win streak, gaining his 14th straight and would go on to tie Johnson’s AL record string. Wood then climaxed his phenomenal year by leading the Sox over McGraw’s Giants in a Series for the ages at brand-new Fenway Park.

• A broken thumb in ’13 left Wood impaired, but he went on to a fine OF role for the Indians
• Said Walter Johnson: “No man alive can throw harder than Smoky Joe Wood.”