Jimmy Wood

Who was Jimmy Wood?

James Leon "Jimmy" Wood was an American second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who hailed from Brooklyn, New York. He was the player-manager for four different teams in the National Association, where he spent his entire career.

Wood's career in organized baseball began as early as 1860 when he began play for the Eckford of Brooklyn team, with whom he played for nine seasons during the following decade. In 1870, he took the position of player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings. It was here that he is credited for inventing spring training when he moved his team down to New Orleans, Louisiana prior to season to train in warmer weather. For the 1871 season, the team became a charter member of the National Association, but folded the following season, and Wood moved on to manage two other ill-fated teams; the Troy Haymakers and his old Eckford team. The next season, 1873, he managed the Philadelphia White Stockings for a year until he was able to reorganize a new Chicago team.

In 1874, he tried to lance an abscess on his leg with a pocketknife. This caused an infection which led to an eventual amputation of the leg.