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The rarest of sights: Pitcher Travis Wood hit a pinch-hit home run

Pitcher Travis Wood hit a pinch-hit home run

Travis Wood is a pitcher. As a pitcher, he is expected to look overmatched at the plate, bringing joy to us like those guys who try to win a barrel of cash by scoring from mid-court:

But Wood is the rarest of beasts: He's a good-hitting pitcher, with nine career home runs to his name. His .700 OPS last season was second among pitchers in 2014 (behind Madison Bumgarner, natch) and would have put him on par with Chase Headley had he qualified. And Headley just signed a $52 million deal. 

So on Thursday, when Joe Maddon needed a pinch-hitter, he knew who to turn to. Wood rewarded him by doing this: 

Wood

Yeah, the AP Style guide may not want us saying it anymore, but that is a dinger, jack and bomb all in one. 

It's not the first time a pitcher has gone deep as a pinch-hitter, though. Micah Owings has hit two of them, including this bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out, game-tying blast.

It may explain why Owings briefly turned to positional duties full-time in 2013. 

Red Lucas, who won 157 games from 1923-38, is the champ, though. In addition to four pinch-hit home runs, he also collected 114 pinch-hits, the most ever by a pitcher. Sadly, there's no video footage, so just imagine they looked a little something like this: 

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