It can’t be easy being Dick Pole. Here’s a guy who was a major league pitcher for six years, including the 1975 World Series, then became a successful pitching coach, cited by Greg Maddux as a major influence. But his claim to fame is that his name is Dick Pole. Dick Pole! And then to be Dick Pole on the Beavers? Come on, cut the guy a break.
There’s a super cool 1981 TCMA Sandy Koufax card from when the great Koofoo was a roving minor league pitching instructor in the Dodger chain. TCMA put him in their Albuquerque Dukes team set but when word got out that they shouldn’t have assumed they had the rights to do so, the card was pulled. It’s not very expensive, $15-20, but it is relatively hard to find.
I’ve got a bunch of minor league sets, most I picked up in big lots years after they had plummeted from peak value. They’re fun, very goofy, and sometimes you come across a real gem. As I rifled through my 1981 sets, all in alphabetical order by team city, I hit upon this poor schnook.
You’d think that with a name like Johnson Wood, to my ears even more ridiculous than Dick Pole, I’d have either heard of him or remembered him from when I got the 1981 Burlington Bees set. His card came as an incredibly funny surprise. I had to know more.
That’s when it became difficult. Wood had a nondescript minor league career, going by the name of John Wood to save his dignity, popping back up to manage in the Western League, guiding the 1998 Pacific Suns to a 28-62 record. Not so good.
I wanted to find out more about him but I can’t find much more online. I’m sure if I ducked to the Hall of Fame library I could dig up old articles and pictures. I’m not that interested. I thought I could find out some critical mass of information from my desk chair. No luck. I also Tweeted out to Tom Candiotti, who was Wood’s teammate in 1983 in El Paso. I’m curious how much of a hard time his teammates gave good ol’ Johnson Wood. I’m still waiting for an answer.
Having a double phallic name has got to be tough, at least from the first moment of adolescent when your friends realizes that both of your names are synonyms for penis. I can’t imagine. I got a reasonable amount of shit with a last name of Katz!
I’ll probably stay on the Johnson Wood story for a little, maybe see what files the Hall has. I feel like this dude had it hard enough, what with his name, his less than illustrious minor league career and one horrendous season managing in the independent Western league. We should all have a little empathy for the Johnson Woods of the world, doing their best to stand tall and firm against the stress and pressures that affect a lot of guys who, occasionally, fall flat.
SABR's Baseball Cards Research Committee 
Dick Pole was in the starting rotation for the expansion ’77 Mariners and posted a 7 and 12 record. The next year he posted a 4 and 11 record. He had a “hard” time in the Kingdome with its ridiculously short right field. Dick “laid” quite a few fastballs over the plate which would “peter” out resulting in “meat” for the opposition. The outfield hot dog vendors would duck and drop their “wieners” when Dick’s “balls” sailed into the seats. A high wall was a later “erection” that helped with preventing cheap home runs.
As for Johnson Wood, I will repeat a tweet when you first mention this “member” of the Burlington Bees. His scouting report stated he was a real “stud.”
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I only remember Dick Pole as the Giants pitching coach who was supposedly a wizard with helping pitchers with their soft stuff.
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On June 30, 1975, I attended a twi-night double header at Fenway Park with the Orioles and Red Sox. The first game matched Jim Palmer against Dick Pole, who was Boston’s best pitching prospect. Pole was magnificent, and took a four-hit shutout and a 5-0 lead into the 9th inning.
Unfortunately, he allowed a few scratch singles to load the bases with one out. Then Tony Muser hit a screaming line drive off Pole’s face, a “double” that scored two runs. Pole went down like he’d been shot, and was carried off on a stretcher, bleeding like a pig. He missed two months time, and never got his prospect sheen back.
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Thanks for hipping me to the 1981 TCMA Sandy Koufax! Never knew it existed, great-looking card. Just snatched up the only cheap one on ebay.
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Pretty sure you bought that from me!
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You’re kidding! If you were trying to make a sale with this post, it sure worked.
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That wasn’t the goal, but now……
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