After three years away from the team that drafted him, Kerry Wood is making a return to the Chicago Cubs. In many ways, Wood is the symbol of everything that encompasses Cubs baseball. He represents the promise of what might be, what could be, what should be, but ultimately never is. He was drafted by the loveable losers out of high school in 1995 and made his major league debut just a few years later. As a 20 year old flame throwing right hander out of Texas, Wood featured a fastball in the upper 90’s and a breaking ball that defied the laws of physics. Invariably, he was already getting compared to Lonestar legends like Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens.
In a performance that became the gift and curse of his career, Wood struck out 20 Houston Astros during his rookie year. Kid K was a man amongst boys on that dreary April afternoon despite the fact that he couldn’t grow anything more than peach fuzz. The scary thing was just how easy he made it look, seemingly never breaking a sweat. The batters simply stood no chance against a breaking ball that seemed to dance in mid air. From that point on, every Kerry Wood start became an event onto itself. There was an electricity that permeated the Friendly Confines when he took the mound. Fans didn’t want to miss their opportunity to see greatness, wearing their uniform. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year while tallying 13 wins along the way. Despite his unlimited potential, that would be his second highest win total of his career.
Following that magical 1998 season, which saw the Cubs winning the Wild Card, Kerry Wood needed Tommy John surgery and two missed seasons of rehab. The career of Kerry Wood ultimately became a cautionary tale about the dangers of overusing a young pitching phenom. He has made 14 trips to the Disable List in his 13 year career. His golden arm just couldn’t withstand the violent nature of pitching 200 innings a year.
Despite all of the heartache over his unfulfilled potential, Wood gave Cubs fans plenty of thrilling memories; That aforementioned 20 strikeout game, the series clinching performance against the Atlanta Braves in 2003, the home run that rocked the grandstand at Wrigley in the NLCS versus the Florida Marlins. In the end, like most Chicago Cubs stories, the saga of Kerry Wood was more about tragedy than triumph. More about injuries than induction ceremonies.
It’s sad, to see him in Cubs uniform, knowing what might have been. Yet, Wood desperately wanted to come back to Chicago. He took less money to do so. He returns to the city to that embraced him as a 20 year old folk hero while living and dying with every walk, strikeout and injury along the way. One can only hope that a happy ending exists to this story. Maybe, and almost certainly, it won’t be a fairy tale finish with a Word Series title. But I’d settle for a slow walk from the mound, a tip of the hat and a standing ovation from the fans that always believed in him, even when there was no rational reason to do so.
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