Goodbye Kerry Wood
Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood retired following today's Cubs - White Sox game after getting one last strikeout. A great article and video can be found at the official Chicago Cubs website.
Wood's career seemed to mimic the perpetual story of the Chicago Cubs: lots of hope and promise, some success, but failure to get to the promised land -- the World Series. He did come soooo close during the monumental Cubs collapse against the Florida Marlins in the 2003 MLB National League playoffs.
Wood has been a tragic figure in many ways. In his early years he was about the best there was. However, a litany of arm problems and other injuries kept Wood from achieving what had been hoped for him.
What made Wood so special was his desire to win and earn his paycheck and his dedication to the Cubs organization and charitable endeavors in the Chicago area. He joins a select group of Cubs who are among the most beloved players in the modern Cubs baseball era.
We'll miss you, Kerry.
And, as a tribute, one of the finest games ever pitched -- twenty strikeouts against the Houston Astros.
posted by lightning36 at 4:46 PM
6 Comments:
I'll never forget that 20 strikeout game...happened on my birthday. And that Astros team wasn't full of bums. There were very good hitters on that team. The killer Bs (Bagwell, Biggio, and Berkman to name a few.
You had me right up until the video. Haven't we Astros fans suffered enough?
Wood was gonna be the Next Big Thing... pity he couldn't stay healthy.
I watched the game today (MLB.TV) and saw the retirement. I could be wrong, but I believe part of the reason for the arm problems was games with too high a pitch count.
It appears that Wood's main problem was crappy form, which led to injuries. Cub fans today like to blame Dusty Baker for ruining the arms of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior by pitching them too much circa 2003.
In Dusty we can't Trusty?
Seemed a shock. Same shock when he came back. I think everyone want him to go out a Cub. That was where his heart was. Not usual in these times. He was a homer.
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