His 20 K’s in a single game & the dramatic go-ahead home run in game 7 of the ’03 NLCS are the lasting Wrigley Field memories Cubs fans will cherish forever in loving remembrance of ‘Kid K’, Kerry Wood.
Unfortunately, we will also recall Opening Day ’08 when, in his first opportunity as a closer, and with a 3-run lead, a now 30 year old Wood, with a 5 year history of severe arm problems and several long stints on the DL, blew the lead which lead to another Cubs loss.
Wood is a disaster as a closer, of that there can be no argument.
If the Cubs would have only won half of the 8 games in which he has given up his inherited lead, they would have the best record in baseball. His problem with hitting 6 batters already in the young season is compounded by the amazing performance of his set-up guy, Carlos Marmol.
Marmol is a stud, plain & simple. He has Mariano Rivera type potential and the best stuff in the league. The Cubs will be wise to lock him up long-term and announce their new closer immediately.
As for the former ‘Kid K’, it’s time to make tough, unpopular decisions. He can still smoke the rock into the upper 90’s, so he has value to some squad, but if he can’t start and can’t close for the Cubs, what real good is he?
He needs a fresh start where the franchise has no memory and the fans have little expectations.
Kerry Wood could have owned Chicago if he’d have simply embraced the fans the way he did teammates like Mark Grace and Ryan Dempster. Instead, his gruff, Texas persona was all too often what he offered and thus he will never reach that elite level of Cub-dom.
Wood will make a fantastic 3rd man in the WGN radio booth with Pat Hughes and Mark Grace around 2011.
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