DrCrawdad
09-07-2003, 10:05 AM
THE ARM AND THE MAN
KERRY WOOD SAYS HE'S PITCHING BETTER THAN EVER SINCE RECOVERING FROM ELBOW SURGERY. BUT THE GLORY OF HIS ROOKIE YEAR STILL ELUDES HIM.
By Dan Mcgrath. Dan McGrath is the Cubune's associate managing editor for sports
Published September 7, 2003
The sound of bat meeting ball was like a rifle shot, a sharp "crack" that even casual baseball fans instinctively identify as "good wood." Not that there was anything casual about the 39,363 fans who filled every seat and available niche at Wrigley Field for the Cubs-Yankees game of June 7, the first time the imperial Yankees had come to town since 1938.
The main event was a to-die-for pitching duel between Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood, and longtime Wrigley patrons could not remember the place being more revved up.
Clemens was seeking the 300th victory of a Hall-of-Fame career; Wood was trying to prove he belonged in the company of the Texas legend he had grown up idolizing. Weakened by a bronchial condition, Clemens left in the seventh inning, turning a 1-0 lead over to Juan Acevedo, whose first pitch to Eric Karros produced the no-doubt-about-it crack that sent the Cubs off to a 5-2 victory in a memorably dramatic, wonderfully well-played game of baseball.
"I cried," Sarah Wood was to say several weeks later, a so-shoot-me smile accompanying her recollection. "I know there's no crying in baseball, but I cried when Eric Karros hit that home run. I just knew what it meant to Kerry."
If you want to read the rest of this promotional article here's the LINKY. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/magazine/chi-0309070099sep07,1,6031530.story?coll=chi-leisuremagazine-hed)
KERRY WOOD SAYS HE'S PITCHING BETTER THAN EVER SINCE RECOVERING FROM ELBOW SURGERY. BUT THE GLORY OF HIS ROOKIE YEAR STILL ELUDES HIM.
By Dan Mcgrath. Dan McGrath is the Cubune's associate managing editor for sports
Published September 7, 2003
The sound of bat meeting ball was like a rifle shot, a sharp "crack" that even casual baseball fans instinctively identify as "good wood." Not that there was anything casual about the 39,363 fans who filled every seat and available niche at Wrigley Field for the Cubs-Yankees game of June 7, the first time the imperial Yankees had come to town since 1938.
The main event was a to-die-for pitching duel between Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood, and longtime Wrigley patrons could not remember the place being more revved up.
Clemens was seeking the 300th victory of a Hall-of-Fame career; Wood was trying to prove he belonged in the company of the Texas legend he had grown up idolizing. Weakened by a bronchial condition, Clemens left in the seventh inning, turning a 1-0 lead over to Juan Acevedo, whose first pitch to Eric Karros produced the no-doubt-about-it crack that sent the Cubs off to a 5-2 victory in a memorably dramatic, wonderfully well-played game of baseball.
"I cried," Sarah Wood was to say several weeks later, a so-shoot-me smile accompanying her recollection. "I know there's no crying in baseball, but I cried when Eric Karros hit that home run. I just knew what it meant to Kerry."
If you want to read the rest of this promotional article here's the LINKY. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/magazine/chi-0309070099sep07,1,6031530.story?coll=chi-leisuremagazine-hed)