Blue Wahoos Employee, Famed Detroit Tigers Pioneer Meet 63 Years Later On Special Day 

The famed star from yesteryear walked into the Blue Wahoos’ season-ticket holder lounge and Wanda Eubanks’ ever-present smile changed into stunned excitement.

In the summer of 1961, Eubanks was a young girl sitting with her father at Detroit’s former Tiger Stadium. She was mesmerized by this rookie second baseman for the Detroit Tigers, the first African-American player to come through the Tigers organization and reach the major leagues.

That player was Jake Wood.

Now, 63 years later in Pensacola, here was Jake Wood at Blue Wahoos Stadium, walking into her workplace.

“At first, I looked and I wasn’t sure it was him,” said Eubanks, laughing, after meeting Woods on June 23 prior to the Blue Wahoos’ final home game of their first half schedule. “This was a dream come true.

“Because this was one of my baseball heroes,” said Eubanks, in her second season working for the Blue Wahoos food and beverage team, helping operate and connect with the Blue Wahoos loyal season-ticket holders on game days in the first base side lounge.

“You say Jake Wood and you’re talking early ‘60’s Tigers. You’re talking all those great teammates. You knew who Jake was. My classmates all knew who he was,” Eubanks said.

So did the Major League Baseball world at that time.

Wood, 86, an Elizabeth, New Jersey native, put up offensive numbers that season that earned him finalist for the American League rookie of the year honor. Prior to his historic MLB debut for the Tigers, he batted above .300 each of four previous seasons in the minor leagues.

He was a star. And inspiration.

This chance meeting with Eubanks was part of Wood – a Pensacola resident for the past two decades – attending the game to be honored by the Blue Wahoos, as part of “The Nine Initiative.” Joining Wood on June 23 at the ballpark were three former Pensacola area players, Joe “JJ” Cannon, his brother Tim Cannon and Adron Chambers.

All three made significant contributions to the Pensacola baseball community and were inspirations for those who followed.

The Nine Initiative program throughout Minor League Baseball is to celebrate the historic impact of African American baseball players of the 1930-50’s era. The No. 9 was the number worn by Jackie Robinson when he played in the minor leagues.

Wood was 10 years old in 1947 when Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier with his MLB debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

“I cannot imagine what Jackie Robinson endured,” said Wood, referring how Robinson faced racial hatred and discrimination during his progression in baseball. “That is why I say thank God for his life and his wife Rachel. The support that he needed and got from her to accomplish what he did and pave the way for guys like me was so special.”

Wood endured his own bad experiences during his path to the big leagues. The Tigers spring-training home in Lakeland was not a welcoming place for him in the 1950’s.

The stadium, which still remains Joker Marchant Stadium, had separate seating areas for whites and blacks. He could go out to eat in certain areas of the community. He had to stay at the team’s spring training facility while white players could stay in hotels.

“It was a culture shock for me,” said Wood, before throwing out a ceremonial first pitch June 23 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. “Because I grew up in an integrated neighborhood (in New Jersey). All we did was play baseball. I played with guys who were Jewish, Italian, whatever… we just played.

“But when I went down there, we could intermingle (white players and black players) on the field, but once we left the field, it was a totally different world.”

Woods became friends with a player from Wisconsin. When Wood played a game in Durham, North Caroline while in the Tigers’ minor league system, the player’s wife ran and hugged him during pregame warmups.

“Here comes this Caucasian woman hugging me and I said, ‘Barbara, Barbara! You are going to get me killed.’ But all she knew was me, not my skin color,” said Woods, now laughing at the memory. “We treated each other like human beings.”

Eubanks’ remembers how her father, who served in World War II, was thrilled as a black man to see Woods and Ozzie Virgil Sr. playing for the Tigers in 1961. That memory added to her emotion as she hugged Wood in the Blue Wahoos’ season-ticket holder lounge.

“What really makes this special is that my father loved the game of baseball,” Eubanks said. “But my father, he knew Negro League Baseball. So when he moved to Detroit after World War II, when he was working for Ford Motor Company, the Detroit Tigers were now integrated.

“My dad got to go to Tiger Stadium and watch Jake Wood and these guys. That’s where my love of baseball comes from.”

Wood was wowed as Eubanks recited the Tigers starting lineup from that year that included right fielder Al Kaline, a Hall of Fame member, Norm Cash, the 1961 AL batting champion, and other favorites like Rocky Colavito, Chico Fernandez and Bill Bruton, who was Woods’ roommate on road trips.

“She knew the whole lineup,” Wood said. “It was wonderful meeting her. I’ll tell you, my career, it’s an absolute blessing, because remember when I started in the Major Leagues, there were only eight teams in the American League, eight teams in the National League.

“And to reach that level on one of 16 teams was special. There were so many players who were good players. I was All-State New Jersey in high school, but there was All-State New York, All-State Connecticut.”

Eubanks vividly remembers the excitement fans at Tiger Stadium in 1961 felt when Wood got on base. His speed enabled him to lead the league in stolen bases.

“The electricity he brought to the field was special,” she said. “Jake Wood was always known for his speed. If he got on first, you knew he was going for second. You knew he was going to steal a base.

“Because of his speed, that always made him a great infielder. So those are my biggest memories.”

The amazement she felt June 23 was meeting Wood, 63 years after watching him play for the first time.

“This is like a culmination for me,” she said. “I’m working for a baseball team. I already love baseball.

“And to meet someone who help nurture that love of the sport by what he brought to it, I don’t take any of this for granted. It kind of makes my heart full.”