Kerry Wood retires

Kerry Wood retires

- The sad story of Kerry Wood's baseball career came to a close over the weekend, as he abruptly retired after facing one hitter, Dayan Viciedo, leaving to a standing ovation.  Wood came onto the season in 1998 with the Chicago Cubs already drawing comparisons to Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, as he was a hard-throwing Texan who struck out hitters left and right.  But not even the most optimistic fan could have guessed what he'd do in his fifth major league start.
- On May 6, 1998 against a Houston Astros lineup that sported potential Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio as well as longtime star and eventual teammate Moises Alou, Wood gave up only 1 hit, and 0 runs while striking out 20.  It tied the all-time record for strike outs in a single 9-inning game and if you saw it, you'd think the hitters were all blindfolded. 
- The masterpiece, called by some the greatest pitching performance ever, sent fans into a frenzy and after finishing the season 13-6 with a mind-boggling 12.6 strikeouts per 9 innings, he won the NL Rookie of the Year award.  However, here's where the story gets sad.  Due to the Cubs mismanagement of Wood (having him throw too many pitches), as well as his own poor mechanics (putting too much torque on his arm) he tore his elbow and missed the entire 1999 season, a sign of things to come.  Although he returned and had a few more good seasons he would never win more than 14 games in a season, always struggling with nagging injuries and inconsistency.  Similar things happened to fellow Cubs pitching phenom Mark Prior who along with Wood is credited with a plethora of new unofficial guidelines designed to protect and preserve the careers of young pitchers.


Side note: The only other player I can think of who retired mid-game was John Kruk, who singled in a game for the Chicago White Sox, then told the first base coach to take him out of the game because he was retiring.


Triple Crown in Sight

- The winner of the Kentucky Derby, I'll Have Another, edged out favorite Bodemeister in this year's Preakness Stakes. I'll Have Another will race in the Belmont Stakes on June 9th trying to become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win all three legs of the triple crown.
- Bodemeister led most of the race, even as close as the 100 yard mark. I'll Have Another, who was never further back than 5th, had a late night surge to beat out the three horses in between him and Bodemeister, and eventually went neck-and-neck with Bodemeister for the last 50 yards.  Racing analysts were impressed by I'll Have Another's win because Bodemeister, a speed horse, was supposed to have a big advantage in the shorter Preakness Stakes.
- I'll Have Another went on to win though, securing a thrilling last second victory by a nose. As we mentioned Friday, since Affirmed won all three races, 11 horses have won the first two races and lost (or didn't race) in the Belmont. I'll Have Another will have to fend off Bodemeister and the rest of the field in the longest of all the Triple Crown races.