Baseball: Wood gets a taste of The Show

Hunter Wood won't forget his Major League debut Tuesday night in Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas.

The 23-year-old's trip from Alabama to Texas earlier in the day was full of twists and turns, too.

The Rogers Heritage graduate jogged out of the visiting Tampa Bay Rays' bullpen with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and trailing the Texas Rangers 9-5. Wood retired Rangers' designated hitter Nomar Mazara on a pop-out to first base to end the inning.

He didn't know it then, but his big league debut and stay with the Rays was soon done, too. The Rays went down in order in the top of the ninth inning and fell 9-5.

Wood, a 29th-round draft pick by the Rays in 2013 who hadn't pitched above Double-A until this week , said he battled nerves all evening sitting in the bullpen. Those nerves boiled over when he finally got the call to enter the game.

"I promise you I didn't know where that first pitch was gonna go," Wood said this week. "When I got to the bullpen, the coach went over every single hitter. Whenever I went out to the mound, I didn't remember a single thing. I knew it was their designated hitter and I knew Adrian Beltre was on deck."

The right-hander said he settled down quickly on the mound.

"The butterflies went away," Wood said. "I was just thinking 'I gotta get this guy out, do my job and prove I belong here.'"

He did that, retiring Mazara on five pitches. Wood walked off the mound, catching a glimpse of his wife, Hannah, seated behind the dugout, and his father, Trent, standing at the rail. Wood said around 15 friends and family were there for his debut.

"It was just a dream come true," he said. "I've worked so hard my whole life. You never think you're gonna be that guy to make the Major Leagues from Rogers, Arkansas. And you get that call. It was a pretty big shock."

When Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits manager Brady Williams called about 9:30 Tuesday morning to tell him he got the call-up, that started the whirlwind day for Wood and his family.

One of his first tasks before heading to the airport was to make sure he followed Major League dress code in the clubhouse.

Rays pitcher Chris Archer bought every player on the 40-man roster a new suit, Wood said. So he had that part of the wardrobe covered, but he never got around to buying dress shoes. Shoe shopping was the first stop, followed by McDonald's trip, and then the Montgomery airport.

Wood, his wife and his two baseball-named sons Easton (almost 2) and Rawling (five months) missed check-in for his 1 p.m. flight by two minutes. He was then forced to drive to Birmingham to catch a 3:50 p.m. flight to Dallas. They made that flight, but that wasn't the end of the adventures once they landed.

"We got there about 6 (p.m.) and the game started at 7," Wood said. "The strap on my son's car seat got caught (in the luggage area conveyor) and we were already late. Finally I just said 'cut it.'

"Then they told us we couldn't rent a car because we didn't have a two-way ticket. I called my agent and he came and picked us up. I went straight to the locker room, threw my stuff on and they took me to the bullpen."

After a post-game shower, Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey told Wood that Rays manager Kevin Cash wanted to see him.

Plenty of emotions were running through his mind as Wood made the trek to the visiting manager's office under Globe Life Park. Wood knew that likely meant he was headed back to the minors, but he said the Rays coaching staff had nothing but good feedback for him.

"I told myself 'I'm not gonna get upset," Wood said. "I got a taste of it. They were really positive. They said they hope they see me back here real soon."

Just not with all the drama of actually getting to the stadium.

Sports on 06/02/2017