"Smoky Joe" Wood is one of the most widely-collected and popular prewar players not enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Wood broke in with the Red Sox in 1908 at just 18 years old and was the author of a 34-5 record in 1912 with a 1.91 ERA. No less a pitcher than Walter Johnson said of Wood "There is no man alive who throws harder than Smoky Joe Wood." Wood broke his thumb fielding a bunt in 1913 an injury that ultimately ended his career as a pitcher. After moving to Cleveland Wood became a position player compiling a lifetime batting average of .283. After his retirement he went on to become the head baseball coach at Yale University where he remained for 20 years. One of the classic stories in Wood's legend is the fact that he broke in with a "Bloomer Girls" team. Today as hobbyists scour eBay and paper shows searching for real photo postcards and team photos featuring prewar baseball players depicted with amateur or minor league teams the multitude of Bloomer Girls teams and their many different postcards often spark debate among squinting and louping collectors asking "Is that Smoky Joe?" Presented is an amazing discovery: a Bloomer Girls postcard from Indianapolis where the "Is that Smoky Joe?" question is answered by Smoky Joe himself. Wood has written directly on the postcard "I did not play on this team of girls. Joe Wood" From the horse's mouth easily the most interesting Smoky Joe Wood signature we have ever seen answering an age-old question. Our opinion from the standpoint of both a collector and an auctioneer is simple: an autographed Bloomer Girls postcard from Joe Wood verifying that he was not on the team is infinitely more interesting of a Bloomer Girls postcard depicting the great pitcher.