George Wood

George Albert Wood (November 9, 1858 – April 4, 1924), also known as "Dandy" Wood, was a British North American-born professional baseball player and manager whose career spanned from 1878 to 1896. He played 13 seasons of Major League Baseball, primarily as an outfielder, for the Worcester Ruby Legs, Detroit Wolverines (1881–85), Philadelphia Quakers (1886–89), Philadelphia Athletics (1890–91), Baltimore Orioles (1889, 1892), and Cincinnati Reds (1892). In 1891, he served as both a player and the manager of the Athletics.

Early years Wood was born in Pownal, Prince Edward Island, British North America, in 1858. He was the son of Joseph A. Wood and Mary Ann Jenkins and is believed to be the first major league player from Prince Edward Island, and one of only three in major league history, along with Henry Oxley and Vern Handrahan. Wood moved with his family to East Boston as a child in 1867.

Professional baseball career

Worcester Wood began his professional baseball career in 1878 and 1879 playing for teams in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire. His batting average in 1879 was .368. In December 1879, he travelled to Havana as the left fielder of the first American team to play a Cuban all-star team.

Detroit

In 1881, the National League admitted a new club in Detroit, Michigan, which became known as the Detroit Wolverines. Frank Bancroft, who had been Wood's manager in Worcester, was hired as the manager of the new club, and Wood quickly agreed to join Bancroft in Detroit. Wood joined the Wolverines for their inaugural season in 1881 and remained a starter for the club through the 1885 season. By the end of the 1881 season, Wood ranked among the National League leaders with nine triples (3rd), 29 extra base hits (8th), 142 total bases (9th), 100 hits (10th), and a .421 slugging percentage (10th). The following year, in 1882, Wood was the National League's home run champion with seven home runs and ranked second in the league with 12 triples. He also led the league's outfielders with eight double plays turned from the outfield and ranked fifth among the league's outfielders with an .884 fielding percentage.

Wood had the best season of his career in 1883. That year, he compiled a .302 batting average with 26 doubles, 11 triples, five home runs, and 47 RBIs. He also showed range in the outfield and led the league's outfielders with 226 outfield putouts. Applying the sabermetric measure of Wins Above Replacement (WAR), Wood's performance in 1883 rated a 3.3, the highest of his career. He continued to have strong seasons in 1884 and 1885 with WAR ratings of 2.1 and 2.4. He would rate above a 2.0 WAR rating only one other time in his career—a 2.8 rating in 1891.

In 1890, Wood jumped to the Players' League, playing for the Philadelphia Athletics. Wood compiled a .289 batting average with 20 doubles, 14 triples, nine home runs, 102 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases in the Players' League. He also led the league with 35 outfield assists.