Alex Wood always knew where home was. Though he grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, his dad, a Georgia alum, frequently took him to Athens throughout his childhood for Georgia football games, and the visits helped Wood form a lasting connection with the college town.
That connection prevailed as the Ardrey Kell High School star pitcher began to attract interest from college coaches around the Southeast. Wood had a visit to Tennessee planned out, but after visiting Georgia and receiving a scholarship offer from the Bulldogs, he immediately canceled on Tennessee.
“I fell in love with Athens from a very young age,” Wood said. “As soon as they started recruiting me and I visited, I knew that that was where I wanted to go to school, so I committed pretty early in my junior year.”
Wood’s Georgia debut was delayed after he was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery during his senior year of high school. He missed his entire freshman year at Georgia, but when he finally took the mound, he had an immediate impact.
In just his third career start, Wood outdueled future No. 1 pick and Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, striking out 11 and allowing just one run as Georgia upset No. 10 UCLA. Wood finished that year with a 6-7 record and 4.44 ERA in 101 ⅓ innings pitched.
However, Wood finally broke out in his third year with the program. His 2.73 ERA was the best mark by a Bulldog pitcher since 1989, and he struck out 100 batters in 102 ⅓ innings, earning All-SEC honors.
His special season drew attention from MLB scouts, and Wood was drafted in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Braves. He said that getting drafted to the hometown team that all his friends were fans of was “pretty badass.”
Wood started his minor league journey in Single-A with the Rome Braves, but quickly earned a promotion to Double-A Mississippi. He caught fire there, allowing just eight runs in 10 starts and setting a Mississippi record for consecutive innings without surrendering an earned run, with 33 ⅔.
His dominance was rewarded with a huge honor — he was called up to the major leagues straight from Double-A.
“By the end of May, when I got called up, all my friends were juniors and seniors in college, and I had made it up to the show already, so pretty freaking awesome,” Wood said. “Really, really cool, really great, and especially the proximity to Athens — I couldn’t imagine a cooler experience than what that was for me.”
Wood pitched in 86 games for Atlanta across three seasons, posting an average ERA of 3.15. In July 2015, he was dealt to the Dodgers to help fill out a rotation that included aces Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.
Wood excelled in Los Angeles, putting together the best season of his career in 2017. He led the league in win-loss percentage and logged a career-best 2.72 ERA.
In the 2020 postseason, Wood pitched out of the bullpen for the Dodgers, allowing just one run in 6 ⅔ innings. He made two scoreless appearances in the World Series, including a perfect two innings in Los Angeles’ series-clinching Game 6 victory.
“Total vindication,” Wood said. “I mean, losing the first two times…and then finally winning it was just an incredible experience. Getting to throw two innings out of the bullpen in that final game and be a good contributor — that postseason was just really special.”
Wood finished the back end of his career with the Giants from 2021-23 and Oakland last year before announcing his retirement last month on Instagram.
“Baseball was my first love,” Wood said in the post. “Outside of God and my family, nothing else has shaped me the way this game has. Even writing this, I can’t help but smile thinking about how much I still love the game after all this time.”
Now in a new phase of his life, everything has come full circle for Wood. He enjoys going back to Athens for football games, and he said he still has a group chat with his best friends from the Georgia baseball team that they text in every day.
He and his wife, Suzanna, live in the Atlanta area and just welcomed their second child on Aug. 26. Though his first son is just under 3 years old, Wood said he hopes one day his kids go to the same school he fell in love with as a child.
“I hope both of [my kids] go there as well,” Wood said. “I think once you’ve lived and went to school in Athens, it’s one of the most special and unique places of any college campus in the US. It’s just a special, special place, and I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else.”
The Red & Black is a 501c3 nonprofit.
Please consider a one-time gift or become a monthly supporter. Cancel anytime.