Jacob Thomas Woods (born September 3, 1981) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played all or part of four seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

from 2005 to 2008. He batted and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

. After attending

Bakersfield College Bakersfield College (BC) is a Public college, public Community colleges in the United States, community college in Bakersfield, California. BC serves about 31,000 students each semester or 46,500 annually, and offers associate degrees, certifica ...

, a

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

, Woods was drafted by the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

in the 3rd round (89th overall) of the

2001 Major League Baseball Draft The 2001 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban baseball pitcher who had recently left Cub ...

. He made his major league debut in 2005 with the Angels, compiling a 1–1 record with a 4.55

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 28.2 innings. Woods also played for the

Cedar Rapids Kernels The Cedar Rapids Kernels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium (Cedar Rapids), Veter ...

, an Angels affiliate, in 2002, ending the season 10–5 with a .667% W-L percentage with a 3.05 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 27 games pitched. He was claimed off waivers by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

on December 20, 2005. Beginning the 2006 season as a long reliever out of the bullpen, Woods was moved into the

starting rotation This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

after the late season demotion of

Joel Piñeiro Joel Alberto Piñeiro (, ; born September 25, 1978) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ...

. Woods spent most of 2008 with Triple-A

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

, but was called up in August. He refused a minor league assignment on November 13, 2008, and became a free agent. In January 2009, he signed a minor league contract with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. After pitching in Triple-A

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

for just over a full season, Woods was released on April 18, 2010. In early May 2010 he signed with

Brother Elephants A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly ...

baseball team in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

to finish his professional career. Woods resides in

Kingsburg, California Kingsburg is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. Kingsburg is located southeast of Selma, California, Selma at an elevation of , on the banks of the Kings River (California), Kings River. The city is from Fresno, California, ...

References

External links

Major League Baseball pitchers Los Angeles Angels players Seattle Mariners players Provo Angels players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players Arkansas Travelers players Salt Lake Stingers players Tacoma Rainiers players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Bakersfield Renegades baseball players 1981 births Living people Baseball players from Fresno, California People from Kingsburg, California Baseball players from Fresno County, California 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1980s-stub