Jason Wood’s time in the majors was the definition of a long road. He had spent seven years away from a big league game before the Florida Marlins brought him up late in the 2006 season, and on Oct. 1, 2006, he delivered the kind of moment a journeyman keeps in his back pocket forever.
Wood came through with the game-ending hit in the Marlins’ season finale against the Philadelphia Phillies, lining an 11th-inning single that gave Florida a 3-2 win at Dolphins Stadium.
The game had been stuck for a while by the time Wood stepped in. Neither club had scored after the seventh inning, and the Marlins had stranded a runner in each of the previous four frames. Matt Herges kept Florida alive with a second straight scoreless inning out of the bullpen, setting up one last chance.
Philadelphia’s Fabio Castro had already worked through the 10th without allowing a run, but the 11th turned messy fast. Chris Aguila led off with a single, then Castro hit Alfredo Amézaga and issued a five-pitch walk to Matt Treanor. That loaded the bases with nobody out, but Paul Hoover followed by grounding into a fielder’s choice, with the lead runner thrown out at home.
That brought up Wood, who had entered in the sixth to replace Miguel Cabrera and was 0-for-3 at that point. He worked the count to 2-2, then sent a ball into the gap between shortstop and third base.
Danny Sandoval got a glove on it, but there was no play. Amézaga scored, and the Marlins walked off with the win.
Amézaga had been in the middle of the action all game. He scored on a Matt Treanor single in the second to open the scoring, then crossed the plate again on Wood’s winner. Philadelphia answered in the fourth on Danny Sandoval’s RBI single, Florida retook the lead in the sixth on Dan Uggla’s solo homer, and Ryan Howard tied it again with an RBI single in the next half-inning.
Uggla, Aguila and Wes Helms each finished with two hits for Florida.
Wood was 36 at the time and would appear in just 153 major league games across parts of five seasons. Even so, he made the most of his brief run with the Marlins in 2006, going 6-for-13. His final hit of that season sent Florida out on a winning note, and gave him one of the most memorable moments of his career.
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