14 years later, Kerry Wood is no longer a member of the Chicago Cubs. From Kid K to Special K and back again, his star crossed career has caused Cubs’ fans transcendental happiness and extreme agita. Many of us had never heard the phrases “simulated game” or “throwing towel” until he came to town.
Of course, not many of us had ever seen a 20 strikeout game before either.
Rick Morrisey, of the Chicago Tribune, does a nice job of summing everything up.
Here are two perfect bookends for Wood’s career as a Cub. He arrived on the scene in a huge way in 1998, striking out 20 Astros in a game at Wrigley Field during his rookie season. Remember it? The nasty fastball? The slider that made professional hitters look like bent-over old men? The way Cubs first baseman Mark Grace kept the Astros’ bullpen apprised of Wood’s strikeout total? It was the fifth start of Wood’s major-league career.
And this last season, defying conventional wisdom and perhaps some medical wisdom, too, he charged back from a lifetime’s worth of injuries and was named an All-Star. It was fairy-tale stuff. This was a guy who had struggled the previous four years with shoulder and triceps injuries.
It’s hard not to think of him in terms of his past physical problems. But you either can waste a lot of time thinking about what might have been or you can think about what was and what might be. What stands out about Wood is crazy perseverance. Oh, and talent too.
I remember asking Grace about him during the pitcher’s rookie season, specifically about what made him so good. This was your dogged columnist trying to get at the essence of what separated Wood from so many other pitchers.
“Well,” Grace said, “he throws the ball 100 [bleeping] miles an hour.”
I suppose I deserved that.
The Nick Swisher era, on the South Side, has ended before it began. While acknowledged as a genuinely nice guy who even once took time out of his busy day to send me an email (in response to my welcoming him to the Sox), he was hitting under .200 by the end of the season. Ozzie might have forgiven that, but word is he stopped listening to, hitting coach, Greg Walker and Ozzie and that, well that gets you a ticket out of town.
Even so, the highly touted (**cough cough**) Yankees organization wanted him and, according to Associated Press, put a lot of thought into the trade.
“He had his worst major-league season,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “We did our due diligence and engaged our scouts and do believe and certainly are hoping that ‘07 and ‘06 are more representative of Nick Swisher than ‘08.”
More changes will come. Some we will cheer, others will baffle us and, at the end of the day, we will all have something to talk about, and cheer or jeer, in 2009.
In closing, I want to congratulate the Chicago Fire for their tremendous season. Even though they were eliminated from the playoffs last night, they have put together a stellar team, a great coach and will be a force in the MLS for years to come.
The man, the myth, the legend, Tyrone Briggs, is already looking at some other changes coming to Chicago baseball, so CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FUN!
Well, no, we aren’t actually going to do that. But Jam Jam wanted to do a front page post today, got sidetracked by Toko and, for all we know, is currently watching a TiVO of the last Bears’ game with the sound off and synched up to DARK SIDE OF THE MOON.
Nevertheless, we will trudge merrily forward.
It has become a lot of fun to log in here and wander through the threads lately. Taking a nonscientific sampling, I would say that there may be one or two Cubs’ fans who are just a wee bit disquieted by the team’s most recent events. By “disquieted” I mean: “If you know such a fan, put your guns away securely locked, keep your liquor cabinet fully stocked and prepare for your common sense to be rocked.”
Everyone else is fine.
Well, except Bears’ fans. They seem to have taken a very long walk off of sanity’s short pier and are rapidly becoming a danger to themselves and others. A succinct example would be this; I was sitting in a bar last night (yes, I can see the shock in you eyes) and someone, might have been me, mentioned the Bears in passing. A gentleman, who had been quietly sipping his drink while watching Wheel of Fortune (TM), slung it across the bar, into the wall and laughed rather bitterly as it smashed. Then he left.
Without saying a word.
Bulls’ fans are much calmer. They know they have a young team, presently rife with injuries but loaded with superstar talent for the future. Their disabled list would be the starting 5 on many teams and fans are aware of that. As players come back look for the Bulls to make a run at the playoffs. And, you heard it here first, do well.
The Hawks, although they lost in a shootout last night, continue to impress hockey fans across the country and, judging by posts up here, the world as well. Their marketing is the marketing of winners and the team is buying into it. They are going to be exciting for decades to come and that is a very novel thought for that organization and its fans.
Let’s face it, when hockey fans are the sanest people you meet, then things really have changed.
But, in case you’re not depressed enough, click here FOR OUR MAYOR’S TAKE ON THE IMPENDING, MASSIVE, LAYOFFS.
Or, maybe you just want to go to the general forum and browse. That’s okay too.
Keith Magnuson, a beloved member of the Chicago Blackhawk family, will be honored tonight by the retirement of his #3 sweater (in hockey, it is a sweater rather than a jersey). Magnuson was as tough a customer as they come in the NHL, however he is best known for his charitable work off the ice. Hockey fans in this town spin yarns about this classy gentleman who always seemed to make himself available for every worthy cause that crossed his path. Carter Beauford, a regular contributor here at Jay the Joke, recalls watching Magnuson at the legendary Chicago Stadium:
I can still remember my first Blackhawk game. My dad got us to the old barn about 90 minutes early so that we could watch warm-ups. Maggy was always the first non-goalie on the ice and he would hit it like a madman, flying around as fast as he could. The Hawks were playing Boston on this night as well and it took all of 30 seconds for Magnuson and Stan Jonathon to drop the gloves. I was hooked. I got to meet him a couple of times and he was the nicest guy. Always had time for the fans. It’s tragic that he died so young.
Our Jay the Joke hockey guru, KillerCarlson, recalls meeting Keith during a family health crisis:
My brother had a bit of an accident one time as a kid. He was about 9 years old and playing on the grounds of the local chemical plant, which at the time was Diamond Shamrock. (which we later found out was one of the companies that helped create Agent Orange used in the Viet Nam war)
Well it had been an extremely cold winter, the temperature had been around or below 0* F for quite some time. He and another friend were walking across what appeared to be a small pond that was frozen over. Well to make a long story short, he fell in up to his waste and proceeded to pull himself out. With the extreme cold and all he was trying to get home and his pants were freezing and his legs began to burn.
When he got home my mother proceeded to try and warm him up and discovered strange burns on his legs and immediately took him to the hospital. They later found out that the company was dumping chemical on their own grounds.
SO anyway the little brother ends up in the hospital for about three weeks. I was 11 years old and the hospital had rules about visitors having to be 16 or something at the time, so I really didn’t get a chance to go up and see him, except for one time.
My father was a Chicago Policeman for 32 years, so he had the idea that he would just “flash his badge” and try and sneak me up to see my brother. After being stopped a few times we finally made it into my brothers room to see him sitting up watching television with someone who looked really familiar.
My parents both came from your traditional Irish Catholic families. My mothers side of the family had eight kids and my father’s side had nine kids, so basically when I had WAY too many people to try and know growing up when you consider aunts and uncles and cousins and second cousins and such.
So back to my brothers room. We were watching television and this guy who could have passed for a brother of my fathers cousin (and who I really believed was one of them) was chatting away to him and getting a good laugh. He said he had been there for about an hour and decided to stick around because my brother was all alone and that he couldn’t see letting a fellow redhead sit alone in hospital bed and decided to spend some extra time with him.
Once we all got situated he decided to go, he obviously would have had better things to do with his free time. One of the nurses walked into the room and asked if we got his autograph and my brother and I just looked kinda puzzled. I asked my father if that was one of his cousins and he just laughed at both of us.
It was Keith Magnuson.
Keith was in his final year playing in the NHL and I guess would spend some of his free time in the children wards of hospitals.
I will never forget him for sitting with that nine year old boy who was in a hospital bed all alone.
God Bless you Keith.
Couldn’t have said this any better. So I won’t.
Undoubtedly, the United Center’s crowd roar will be heard from the heavens tonight as #3 is rightfully hoisted to the ceiling.
Please join our forum discussion. We would love to hear your personal stories about Maggy as well.
It was brought to my attention that legendary Hall of Fame defenseman Pierre Pilote is also being honored in tonight’s ceremony. Kudos to the Blackhawk organization for recognizing the on and off the ice contributions of these two extraordinary men who shared the #3 sweater.
David Haugh, of the Chicago Tribune, takes most of the back page of the sports’ section to dissect the Bears’ defense (for lack of a better word). While it is a well written article, CLICK HERE TO READ IT ALL, it really just comes to the same conclusions everyone else has; the defense is broken and staid. Quarterbacks who should be on their backs so often they should be able to deliver a Master’s thesis on cloud formations are, instead, collecting clips for their highlight reel when they retire or become free agents.
Simply put, if Grossman had to play against these guys, he would be an All Star.
As I have stated before; “That makes Billy sad.”
Worse yet are the rumors that the defense is blaming Babich for the mind numbing play calls as Lovie, basically, is calling out the players for not living up to his scheme. The Bears have enough problems without acting like Bridezillas with helmets.
Okay, I will admit, they are legendary helmets.
What sucks about all this is the fact that unwarranted media time is being wasted pawing through the remains of this train wreck instead of looking at some of the great stories that are happening this year in Chicago sports.
Last night, in a rare break from the herd mentality, ABC news ran a lengthy piece on the Chicago Fire’s chances in the playoffs (very good) and spoke with several team members. What was fun about this was that the players they spoke to all had English as a second language and each one of them came across as professionally as you could imagine. Moreover, not one cliche got uttered and they took time to answer the questions openly and honestly. It was this nice breath of fresh air after all the fetid and rancid rumblings that have permeated the media of late.
From Diego’s impending retirement and dream of scoring in his last game to win the MLS Cup, to the rookies lauding their coach and team, it was a welcome break from all the falderal.
If you are a parent you could do a lot worse than these guys in your search for role models. Well, except for, maybe, Blanco, but even he has a sense of humor about his place in the universe. Just don’t mention the 5 current managers he seems to have running blood feuds with.
The Hawks continue to pile on the wins, and stockpile points, with a bunch of young stars who play like a team. You remember “team” don’t you? That odd concept of one person helping the others around him/her to accomplish a common goal? That stuff? That stuff that seems to have died in Halas Hall?
Baseball has taken its annual de-evolution into Hot Stove mania and has now been left with discussing the rumors about the rumors that were never more than possible hearsay in the first place. If it’s okay with you, I’ll just wait for something to actually happen before I talk about it.
In the meantime, you can kill the rest of your day and join Niteowl’s look back at some of the greatest concerts he’s attended.
I think that is it. I am no longer sure. But, if you think that’s confusing and difficult to understand, try watching the Bears’ defense lately. During the preseason I called the defense the “Ginger Rogers’ Defense” since they seemed to do what the opposing offense was doing, only backwards and in heels. While a fascinating visual, it was not a very effective strategy in the NFL.
Then, out of the gate they trounced Indy and gave the Panthers a hell of a game. So, I bit the bullet, apologized and went so far to say that no matter what happened this season, we couldn’t blame the defense. I even lauded them for playing hard “from snap to whistle.”
That rosy point of view lead me to excuse them for their performance during the Vikings’ game. Which lead Mike Mulligan to call me an idiot. Not me specifically, just me and anyone who agreed with me. Which was more people than I would have thought. Of course, since not even my wife agrees with me on a regular basis, you can see why I figured I was out standing in my field.
Nevertheless, I bit the bullet, apologized again and admitted my error.
And now, we face the prospect that this defense could make Fran Tarkenton - currently 68 years old - look like the league MVP. As one wise guy said, I owe the estate of Ginger Rogers a written apology.
The Bears didn’t run a lot of the dreaded “Cover 2” yesterday. Whatever it is they ran in its place, however, was just as baffling. On a 3rd and 1 and Vasher lined up 7 yards deep. I am singling him out because his was the most egregious, but he was not alone. Safeties and corners were so far off the line on obvious running plays that the Titans were able to pass, pass well, and make a soon to retire QB look like he was in his prime.
The Bears are making a lot of quarterbacks look good this season and that is not a good thing.
I have no idea how the defense went from being “vaunted” to “vaulted over” but they have and it needs to stop.
Yes, Grossman was rusty yesterday, but he wasn’t helped by a defense that had him starting so deep in Bears’ territory, so freaking often, that he could order a hot dog without yelling. Nor does watching Devin Hester run ball after ball out of the end zone only to get stopped at the 10 or 15 do anyone any good. He could have just downed it and they would have had better field position.
I have no idea if it is a locker room problem or a scheme problem or just some bizarre problem that defies categorization, but whatever it is someone needs to figure it out, fix it and move on. Otherwise this team will be lucky to make it to 6 and 10.
Oh well, until that happy day arrives, CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE MISERY!