CUBS: Kid-K Kerry Wood Retiring

HawkeyeMike23 said:
2004 Cubs rotation -

Wood
Prior
Zambrano
Clement
Maddux

I thought for sure that team was going to run through the rest of the NL. Instead they made like one rotation where all five started in a row.
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This X 1000......at minimum I thought there would be multiple World Series appearances.
 
Per some tweets...

Sounds like Wood still wants to step on the mound one more time before calling it quits. Probably will see him sometime in the game this afternoon.
 
EST1847 said:
Probably not a hall of famer but a great cub and one that gave us solid memories and some false hope
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Nowhere near a HOF'er but agreed about Wood being a great Cub and a lot of great memories.

Not just pitching either - I seem to remember Wood hitting a bases-loaded double against the Braves in Game 1 of the 2003 NLDS, and thought he also hit a HR against the Marlins in the NLCS. Maybe not to the extent of Zambrano, but Wood seemed to be able to handle the bat fairly well for a pitcher.

I remember seeing his 20k game on TV in my college dorm room. That was freakin' amazing. Too bad his arm could never hold up.
 
Hawkfromnorwalk said:
It's too bad he never lived up to his full potential. His throwing style was so violent early on that he was doomed to end up this way. He was amazing though in the late 90's and up to around 2004.
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He can thank that wrist band wearing ****** Dusty Baker for that.
 
WildTurkey said:
Calling people names is the best way to show just how smart you are. And yeah its about time Kerry retires. No joke man
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Wood is one of the greatest Cubs of all time and loved being a Cub. He took a hometown discount to come back and play in Chicago and loves the organization. To throw that comment out there when he realizes that he just doesnt have it anymore and is going to hang it up makes you an idiot.

Go back to teh rasslin board.
 
Hawkfromnorwalk said:
It's too bad he never lived up to his full potential. His throwing style was so violent early on that he was doomed to end up this way. He was amazing though in the late 90's and up to around 2004.
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I dunno, he has a pretty smooth deliver early on. Just because he threw hard, some people thought he was violent. He was actually pretty smooth... not as smooth as Prior, but that goes to show you that you can have one of the most picture perfect deliveries and still hurt your arm/career.
 
1977Hawkeye said:
Nowhere near a HOF'er but agreed about Wood being a great Cub and a lot of great memories.

Not just pitching either - I seem to remember Wood hitting a bases-loaded double against the Braves in Game 1 of the 2003 NLDS, and thought he also hit a HR against the Marlins in the NLCS. Maybe not to the extent of Zambrano, but Wood seemed to be able to handle the bat fairly well for a pitcher.

I remember seeing his 20k game on TV in my college dorm room. That was freakin' amazing. Too bad his arm could never hold up.
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Wood hit a homer in game 7 against the Marlins that year.
 
storminspank said:
I dunno, he has a pretty smooth deliver early on. Just because he threw hard, some people thought he was violent. He was actually pretty smooth... not as smooth as Prior, but that goes to show you that you can have one of the most picture perfect deliveries and still hurt your arm/career.
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This. Scouts were saying Prior's mechanics were as flawless as they had ever seen.

Throwing a ball overhand is not a natural motion for your body and some people's arms/shoulders just cant handle the workload of being a Major League pitcher.
 
Here's his 20 K game. I don't think he looks violent at all... some of his curveballs are just straight up FILTHY.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDgnfm3NOVY]Kerry Wood[/ame]
 
storminspank said:
I dunno, he has a pretty smooth deliver early on. Just because he threw hard, some people thought he was violent. He was actually pretty smooth... not as smooth as Prior, but that goes to show you that you can have one of the most picture perfect deliveries and still hurt your arm/career.
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Never confuse calm easy throwing motion for one that isn't violent. The very act of propelling a baseball at 100 MPH once is incredibly violent internally from a bio-mechanical standpoint. These guys are freaks of nature. There is a sports science episode about it somewhere, check it out.

BTW most agree that if anyone ruined Kerry Wood it was his HS coach. One day before the draft he had him throw 175 pitches two days after throwing 100+. The Cubs were NOT happy about that.
 
DuffMan said:
Never confuse calm easy throwing motion for one that isn't violent. The very act of propelling a baseball at 100 MPH once is incredibly violent internally from a bio-mechanical standpoint. These guys are freaks of nature. There is a sports science episode about it somewhere, check it out.

BTW most agree that if anyone ruined Kerry Wood it was his HS coach. One day before the draft he had him throw 175 pitches two days after throwing 100+. The Cubs were NOT happy about that.
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I remember reading that. Threw both games of a doubleheader, I believe for the Texas HS State Title. Apparently Hendry or MacPhail went crazy and trashed their office when they caught word of it.
 
BTW, I remember watchign Kerry Wood strike out lefties swinging on pitches that actually hit them. The slider was so sharp they thought it was a strike and ended up hitting them in the leg as they were swinging the bat.
 
Section136 said:
This. Scouts were saying Prior's mechanics were as flawless as they had ever seen.

Throwing a ball overhand is not a natural motion for your body and some people's arms/shoulders just cant handle the workload of being a Major League pitcher.
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I thought Prior's throwing motion was similar to Nolan Ryan where they generated a lot of power with their legs. Prior had that thick lower body just like Ryan.
 
DuffMan said:
Never confuse calm easy throwing motion for one that isn't violent. The very act of propelling a baseball at 100 MPH once is incredibly violent internally from a bio-mechanical standpoint. These guys are freaks of nature. There is a sports science episode about it somewhere, check it out.

BTW most agree that if anyone ruined Kerry Wood it was his HS coach. One day before the draft he had him throw 175 pitches two days after throwing 100+. The Cubs were NOT happy about that.
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No one cared about pitch count back in the day. I think, if anything, pitchers are babied too much. Let them throw. The whole thought process of limiting to 100 pitches is stupid - why 100? Is it a magical number? No. I think pitch count is over-utilized and can hurt the pitcher more than help him.
 
storminspank said:
DuffMan said:
Never confuse calm easy throwing motion for one that isn't violent. The very act of propelling a baseball at 100 MPH once is incredibly violent internally from a bio-mechanical standpoint. These guys are freaks of nature. There is a sports science episode about it somewhere, check it out. BTW most agree that if anyone ruined Kerry Wood it was his HS coach. One day before the draft he had him throw 175 pitches two days after throwing 100 . The Cubs were NOT happy about that.
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No one cared about pitch count back in the day. I think, if anything, pitchers are babied too much. Let them throw. The whole thought process of limiting to 100 pitches is stupid - why 100? Is it a magical number? No. I think pitch count is over-utilized and can hurt the pitcher more than help him.
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there is a huge difference between a 27 mature man throwing 100+ pitches and a 17 year old kid egos grown 6 inches over the last 3 years throw 175 two days after throwing 100+.
 
Nothing but respect coming from me for Kerry Wood. He tried to help the team, discovered he couldn't and instead of keeping the roster spot tied up he retired.
 
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