him as a starter, but he lost four games and allowed 39 hits in 28 innings before getting moved to the bullpen in early July, where he spent the rest of the season. "The little sonofagun just couldn’t throw hard enough,” manager Johnny Pesky said. “But he wanted to pitch and tried his hardest." As a relief pitcher, he recorded a 2.45 ERA in innings pitched. In 25 games (six starts), he had an 0–5 record, a 3.76 ERA, 28 strikeouts, 13 walks, and 67 walks in innings pitched. Though Wood began the 1964 season with Boston, he was given his outright release to Seattle in the midst of May after posting a 17.47 ERA in four games. Pitching coach Bob Turley thought he was not suited to success at Fenway Park. Spending the next few months in Seattle, Wood posted a 15–8 record, ranking among the league leaders in wins (tied for third with three other pitchers behind Bob Locker's and Ken Rowe's 16), ERA (2.30, second to Bruce Howard's 2.20), strikeouts (197, second to Al Stanek's 220), and innings pitched (211, seventh). He was also selected to the league's All-Star team. The Red Sox chose not to promote him in September, but Wood had his contract purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 6. Pittsburgh Pirates (1964–65) Wood appeared in three games towards the end of the year with the Pirates, including two starts. On October 2, he held the Braves to two runs through nine innings, but the Pirates only scored two, and the game went to the 10th. The Braves loaded the bases against Wood, who then walked Woody Woodward to force in a run. Though it was his first complete game in the major leagues, he still had yet to win a game in parts of four seasons at the big league level. 1965 was Wood's first full season on a major league roster, though his appearances (all but one of which were out of the bullpen) were seldom. According to Gregory H. Wolf of the Society for American Baseball Research, Wood's "soft-spoken and amiable" nature led to a personality clash with the "brash" Harry Walker, who managed Pittsburgh. On August 29, he relieved Bob Friend in the sixth inning of a 2–2 game against the Houston Astros after Friend had allowed the first two hitters to reach base. Retiring all three men he faced,