Farwell Kid K

So I sat down to write a paper for class, and here I am. I think we can all agree that it's more important for me to take my time waxing poetic on one of my all time favorite athletes than to be spending time on an examination of the inter-organizational politics that my employer engages in. Right? Besides, it's sunny, 80 degrees, I have a porch swing to sit on with my laptop, and it's Friday.

Kerry Wood really has been with me my entire life as far as being a baseball fan is concerned. My experience as a big sports fan dates back to 1992: I remember watching bits and pieces of the Bulls - Blazers finals and rooting for the Bulls. By 1993 I was watching the playoffs and thoroughly rooting for the Bulls against the Knicks and the Suns, could name the entire starting lineup plus a few subs easily, and started collecting basketball cards. By 1994 I was so head over heels for the NBA that I was actively debating the merits of the Bulls resigning Horace Grant to my grandmother. (Keep in mind, I was eight at the time; incidentally, he signed with the Magic, the first of many times that what I wanted my team to do was not played out by what they actually did). Somewhere in the summer of 1995, with baseball just back from a strike and MJ having just returned to the NBA I watched a Cubs game with my father. It was against the Atlanta Braves, and Greg Maddux was starting for the Braves. It took me a few years to figure out that the jerk who dominated the Cubs used to play for us. It took a few more years for me to be rooting for him when he returned to the Cubs.

By 1997 I was starting to learn baseball the same way I learned the NBA: via the backs of sports cards. The 1998 season was my coming out party as a Cubs fan. That was the Summer of McGwire and Sosa: Sammy hit 20 HRs in June alone, on his way to 66 and the MVP, and Big Mac slammed 70 on his way to a record that was celebrated, briefly, until it was tainted. The moment that won me over to the Cubs, however, was a game pitched by young Kerry Wood against the Houston Astros. His fifth career start. May 6th 1998. Nine innings pitched. One infield single the only hit allowed. No walks. No hit batters. Twenty Strike Outs.

Think about that: Twenty Strike Outs. Even at the young age of 12 I knew what that meant. That was Roger Clemens territory. That was the all time record. That was "holy shit" status. Keep in mind that the Cubs in the mid 1990s, as I became a fan, were a pretty awful group. Wood, along with Sosa's home run hitting, suddenly made us viable. We made the playoffs and weren't really sad when the Braves swept us. We were on the way up, and we had the next great pitcher on our team. Sosa was a fan favorite, but Wood meant so much more because he came from our minor league system, so he was OUR player.

That offseason, I remember sitting in the living room of my grandparents house on a Sunday afternoon when the news broke that Wood would miss the entire 1999 season and would have Tommy John surgery. I was devastated, and, apparently, so were the Cubs: they didn't show up for 1999. Or 2000. Neither did Wood. He started to rebound in 2001. We started to see the promise, but the team continued to be mostly Sosa and Wood. We needed more. 2003 the reinforcements arrived. With Wood a full fledged ace pitcher (striking out 266 batters) we had a big four of sorts: Wood, Mark Prior (the next Doc Gooden), Carlos Zambrano (nobody knew what to make of him but he was really good), and Matt Clement. We made it to the playoffs, and faced Atlanta again. This time we weren't going to be happy to be there.

We took Atlanta out in a classic Cubs ulcer inducing five games. Wood, as was fitting, was the game five starter. We rolled out to three games to one series lead against the Marlins, with Game five set in Florida. I spoke with my old man who was almost giddy about the impending Cubs National League pennant. Keep in mind, the last time the Cubs had even WON the pennant was 1945 (and, of course, the series in 1908), so he was pretty excited. I told him I had a bad feeling that we needed to finish the series in game five, or we would lose. And he looked at me and said "that's stupid: we have Prior and Wood going at home in games six and seven. We'll be fine."

You know that scene in Jurassic Park where Ian Malcolm's character says that he hates being right? Well, I hated being right. The Cubs lost game five, then Bartman and (most importantly) Dusty's incompetence and Alex Gonzalez' inability to field a double play ball led to the game six collapse. Still, game seven was at home, and we had Kerry Wood, Kid K himself, ready to take us to the World Series. It seemed meant to be. Wood allowed the Marlins to jump to a three run lead, and all seemed lost. But then Wood crushed a three run home run ... and there was hope again. Think about that: the pitcher gives up the three runs, then reinvigorates the crowd with a three run blast of his own. New game. I was at my youth group, with the game on the big screen, and ran around the basketball court, full speed, with my hand in a fist in the air as Wood rounded the bases. Game on!

Alas, it was in no way meant to be. Wood collapsed, and so did the Cubs. I watched the final outs from a small black and white TV in my mother's office. Hiding. Crushed. Praying for a miracle that wouldn't come. Knowing fully what it meant to be a Cubs fan. Still, we rationalized: we signed Maddux, improved the team, and would be back the next year. Except we weren't: Wood and Prior spent much of the year hurt, and the team collapsed late. Wood battled through numerous injuries throughout 2004, 2005 and 2006. By the end of the 2006 season it was evident: Prior was done and so was Wood. The Cubs dynamic 1-2 punch was for naught, and the era was over.

But Wood wasn't ready to let it be so. He returned as a reliever, and helped the team to a surprise division title in 2007 and was the All-star closer of the 2008 team that had the best record in the league. Disappointingly in 2007, and shockingly in 2008, the Cubs were swept from the playoffs on both occasions. Wood left for more money with Cleveland in the offseason, and it seemed his run as a Cub may have finished.

But Chicago is in Kerry's heart, and he returned in 2011 to pitch for the Cubs, taking millions upon millions of dollars less than he was offered. He was good last year, but the team wasn't. He was not so good this year, and so on this day he decided to hang it up. The last batter he faced struck out on three pitches. Hardly a perfect bookend to his career, but a bookend nonetheless.

Wood is not a Hall of Fame player. Wood is not even an all time Cubs great, at least not statistically. But he played a major part of four Cubs playoff teams. And more importantly, he became a latter day Mr. Cub, resonating with the fans in a way not seen since Sandberg at least, if not Santo and Banks. Wood said in his press conference that he hopes to stay with the team in some capacity, and I hope and trust that they will find a way to make that happen. Watching his son run out of the dugout to hug him after his strikeout, seeing the standing ovation, made me wish, for the first time this year, that I was at Wrigley. Kid K, no longer a kid, but instead a grizzled veteran, fades into the sunset.

And, again, this is why we love sports. We had the opportunity to watch Kerry Wood grow from the baby faced Texas Phenom who struck out twenty. We saw him start to reach his potential after the first round of injuries. We saw him reinvent himself after the second round of injuries. And we saw him come back home, taking far less to finish where he started. Kerry, thank you for the memories, and for guiding me into become a fan of the Chicago Cubs. I am fortunate to bleed Cubbie Blue in all I do, and you are as responsible for that as anyone. I'll always remember the Kid K poster that hung in my room, showing an on-fire fastball. Sports allow us to dream, and to be young. When you're a child you take that for granted. With a bit more perspective and real world responsibilities, I can honestly say that it is a gift. It'll be different without you Kerry. Thanks for understanding what makes the Cubs, Cubs fans, and Wrigley so special.