Breaking news Kerry Wood will retire today !
— Bruce Levine (@ESPNBruceLevine) May 18, 2012
Holy shit.
Bruce Levine broke the news on Twitter and naturally everyone is going apeshit.
Surprisingly, the first inkling that something major was up came from the unlikely source of Harry Teinowitz' Twitter feed last night when he said there would be huge Cubs news coming.
I don't think anyone saw this coming, but I don't think anyone is overly surprised either.
I'm sure we'll have more updates as they come out today.
Bonus feature – All 20 strikeouts from May 6, 1998
UPDATE
Wood to retire tonight, but could get in one last appearance this afternoon at Cubs-Sx game. trib.in/Klb8Mj
— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) May 18, 2012
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2012-pitches-batting.shtml
The Cubs are tied for 2nd to last with 3.71 P/PA. NL average is 3.82 P/PA. NYM lead with 3.99 P/PA.
I loved him
Yeah most unsurprising surprisng news. Sad he goes out like this, but he pitched more years than I thought he would after his injuries.
i wish #KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK would trend
Well, it’s cool that he’s calling it quits now rather than giving us a long year of bad performance. But I think he would have done better as the season went on. Still, kind of sad. End of an era.
@ bubblesdachimp:
Racist. Fucking Carolinians.
Damn….as shit as he’s been lately, it’s going to be hard to see him hang em up.
Updated post with 20K video.
Waddle and Silvy @WaddleandSilvy
Kerry Wood retiring today. How will you remember him most?…most beloved Cub or a guy who never reached his potential? #Cubs
My thoughts are its a little bit of both. Sometimes arms arent meant to do what they do. Still won 83 games had a solid ERA and was on 3 cubs playoff teams. I think he was an awesome Cub
EnricoPallazzo wrote:
I think Bass has to be a must-add at this point. He gets a TON of swinging strikes and he pitches half his games at PetCo. He won’t get you a lot of wins most likely, but he’ll help you in Ks, ERA, and WHIP. His FIP and xFIP are both in the low 3s too. He was never considered a big prospect before because of control issues, but he seems like he’s fixed that in a big way.
*looks for his 20K game dvd*
@ bubblesdachimp:
1998, 2003, 2007, 2008 and with the Yankees in 2010. It wasn’t the career he could’ve had, but not bad at all.
@ Mish:
Those pitches for Wood’s 19th and 20th strikeouts were total clown shoes. Only Carlos Marmol comes close
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/acta-and-chernoff-optimizing-the-indians-offense/
I am legit emotional about Kerry.. He was a great Cub. Never had a Kerry jersey (had a prior, Z, maddux)
But he was always the Cubs.
That game was fucking awesome.
-”Hey, Kerry, it’s Tom. Listen, we’re up to our eyeballs in shit here with this Obama/Rev. Wright thing. I need something to take people’s minds off of this. Something that will make them wistful and want to reminisce and look back on the joys of Cubdom.”
-”Hmmm… don’t really know what to tell you, Tom. I got nuthin’.”
-”You can’t think of anything that will put us in a good light and make people reflect on the Cubs throughout the years?”
-”Umm… nope, not of the top of my head. Maybe I should retire or something. (chuckles)”
-”You said it! You said it! No takebacks! Nameless HR rep, take it from here.” (click)
-”Mr. Wood, thank you for your service. A representative will meet you at Gate 4 with your belongings, a Seiko watch, and an Al Yellon bobblehead doll at 3pm today. We wish you a pleasant future. Good day.” (click)
-”What the f…”
@ Mish:
I like this article.
Jon Heyman is really doucheing it up on twitter
Oh come on Joe, really???
The Cubs should definitely retire Kerry’s number. No doubt in my mind.
Kerry to be avialable today then retire after the game…
also
darren rovell @darrenrovell
Kerry Wood ends his career with an 86-75 record & $70.8 million in earnings.
I dont nkow how i feel about retiring #34…
Gotta retire #21 first me thinks
Anyone else thinking this was Thoyer letting him know he’d be cut and giving him the option to retire? He’s been bad this year, but bad enough to be cut?
bubblesdachimp wrote:
Watch Samardzija throw a perfect game. (dying laughing)
There is a twitter push to have him start todays game (one inning). that would be awesome to see…terrible for the actual season..but this season doesnt count anyway…
bubblesdachimp wrote:
Not surprising, it is a day that ends in y after all
Wood says he wants to pitch one more time before retiring
@ bubblesdachimp:
Milton Bradley’s number?
@ Snyds01:
I think that’d be cool to see. I’d suggest they just let him keep pitching until he takes himself out, but that might be asking for too much.
@ josh:
All kidding aside, giving away Sosa’s number willy-nilly has always bugged the shit out of me.
@ bubblesdachimp:
Yeah, it would be pretty shitty to retire Wood’s # before Sosa’s, but I can just about guarantee that’s what is going to happen, and very soon.
@ Berselius:
Couldn’t agree more with this. Better for him to pitch the first inning and leave the game with his head high than to come in the 7th or 8th and leave having blown the lead.
im going to just use this comment for the minor league update
Brett Jackson had a great game, Francescon pitched very well but killed a teenager doing it and Rizzo hit another HR.
@ Rice Cube
I agree they should retire Sosa’s number. Sosa should be a HOF’r, and at the very least he was the greatest Cub for most of my childhood.
I love that psychopath, Francescon.
dylanj wrote:
This requires some elaboration…HBP?
@ Snyds01:
I think that would be a fitting and touching gesture, plus it lets him pitch that last inning in a relatively low-leverage situation where the crowd will never turn on him.
@ josh:
We suggested that at the Cubs Convention during the Q&A session but the crowd response was, shall we say, lukewarm.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I would rather have the Cubs let him throw the ceremonial first pitch and retire than let him pitch a high leverage 7th or 8th again. Needs to go out on top.
@ GBTS:
And not even the last ceremonial first pitch. They could sandwich him in between 11 year old Walgreens Lucky Kid Winner Alicia Jones and Todd Henderson, Team Leader at Integrys Energy Group.
@ GBTS:
Way to upstage Todd Henderson.
@ GBTS:
Hey, we’re trying to win games here.
Sad to see Wood retire but if you’re going to retire his number you have a lot of other numbers you have to retire too. Zambrano. Lee. Ramirez. Sosa of course. Maybe even dempster. Castro in a couple years. I dont really want Wiod to be the worst player ever to have his number retired.
@ mb21:
Ricketts is too much of a fanboy to take that perspective. Don’t be surprised if there’s a ceremony during Opening Day 2013.
Soto tore his knee going to DL… What now?
bubblesdachimp wrote:
We might not make the playoffs.
When does Clevenger get back?
@ Aisle424:
I mean what other catchers do we have?
josh wrote:
Fixed it for ya.
@ bubblesdachimp:
Clevenger told Levine he expects to be back by May 25, so Castillo prob gets the starts until then. The complication is that neither of Iowa’s catchers are on the 40-man.
Marmol could catch. (dying laughing)
Seeing Marmol trying to throw out base stealers would be the height of comedy.
Randy Wells was a catcher…
I swear if they bring up a former catcher to catch that would be the height of : Lets See What Happens
I am callign Randy as the backup catcher
Clevenger just swung the bat again for the first time a day or two ago, so he’s not close to ready. I think Blake Lalli is next on the depth chart. At least there’s a 40 man spot or two open
GBTS wrote:
Especially when he throws a perfect strike to the 2b every time (dying laughing)
Sosnick Cobbe Sports @SosnickCobbe
#Cubs catcher Blake Lalli has been called up to the Big Leagues. Congratulations, Blake!
Hope he gets at least one at bat.. You never know if you will ever be back
@ Smokestack Lightning:
Aisle424 wrote:
Soto tears his knee>>>???>>>Playoffs!
I just put on my 20k game dvd. The Astros don’t look mentally prepared for this game either
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I’ll be very surprised.
2011 SP depth = 2012 C depth, apparently (dying laughing)
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/18/bravo-umpire-bob-davidson-suspended-for-a-game-mlb-announces-it-loud-and-clear/
@ Berselius:
Outfuckingstanding.
Does Alvin know you stole that?
I posted the 20K video on fb, saying it was one of the best pitching performances of all time. My wife pointed out that the best pitching performance of all time was Randy Johnson hitting that bird. I find it hard to disagree.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Does backward’s K indicate a strikeout looking?
@ josh:
Yep
@ josh:
Yes. Although in fairness, all of Wood’s K’s that day could have been backwards. The Astros never had a chance.
@ GBTS:
I don’t see any baloney grease on it
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Moises Alou was pretty sure those were balls.
@ josh:
It’s certainly the best in the modern era. The only ones that top it by game score are some of those ridiculous 16 inning CG duels back in the early 1900s
@ GBTS:
Yes. I’ve been warned.
@ Berselius:
The waxpaper wrapping on the sammich protects the scorecard.
@ Berselius:
He got a lot of outside K’s
@ bubblesdachimp:
It’s not where it lands, it’s where it crosses.
@ Berselius:
I don’t know. Did you see that bird explode?
@ josh:
Do you know that animal cruelty groups were upset with Johnson for hitting that bird? Like he really tried to hit that bird on purpose. People are fucking retards.
@ Mucker:
(dying laughing)
No way. I refuse to believe those people are THAT stupid.
@ GBTS:
Seriously, I remember watching an interview he gave saying he got letters or something from people calling him a bird killer or something like that.
@ Mucker:
That’s hilarious. He could have nailed that bird to a pole and thrown at it a hundred times and he wouldn’t have hit it.
@ Mucker:
The bird picked a bad day to fly low.
That bird clearly wanted to die.
@ GBTS:
True story…
I was driving down the Pacific Coast Highway near Monterey one time and a seagull literally bellyflopped in from of my car as I plowed over it doing about 70. Not sure if sick or suicidal, but it was definitely unusual.
RC 1, Seagull 0
No matter how many times as I’ve seen him hitting that bird, it’s still fucking awesome. (dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
I’ve had a bird fly and hit my windshield and crack it and he went flying over my car and got plowed by the car behind me.
But I was going about 80 on the highway once and fucking pulverized a cat. It tried to jump over my hood but I crushed it. It looked like Garfield, only not as fat.
@ Rice Cube:
I remember one time I was driving to the hay field where I worked in my parent’s Toyota minivan, one of those old ’80s ones with a really flat face, and I hit a sparrow. It hit low on the van, then blew upward and its head got jammed into my windshield wiper. It’s dead eyes and tongue hanging out staring up at me while it’s wings continued to jerk slowly. That was fucked up.
@ Mucker:
I’ve ran over a couple of rabbits and squirrels but not on purpose, and one time near SLC I almost wrapped my car around a deer who decided it’d be hilarious to jump in front of me…luckily for us I was able to slam on the brakes so I didn’t have Volkswagen-flavored venison all over us. Animals are stupid.
@ josh:
“You did this to me. YOU.”
(dying laughing)
In honor of the 20K game
So, what the hell happened to Geo? When did he hurt himself?
Knee surgery for Geo’s knee tear, out 3-4 weeks
@ josh:
No idea. Sounds like it’s been bothering him for a while.
WGC, hope you enjoy singing the stretch today
@ Berselius:
Any idea how he hurt it, though?
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Oh okay. Maybe that’s why the dismal start? I can Hope, can’t I?
(dying laughing) at the hand-painted “E-5″ sign in the bleachers at the end of the game.
Still the best game I think I’ve ever seen pitched. I remember that I had the day off and was planning to drive up from Urbana to see it, but it was kind of rainy and shitty out so I decided not to.
Sad to see him retire, but it’s nice that they’re apparently going to give him a victory lap. Hope it goes well…
wow, depressing.
Bonus to watching 20K game, get to see Sosa in his prime, Steve Stone before he became an embittered douchebag
Preview up
http://www.obstructedview.net/previews/series-preview-chicago-white-sox-18-21-at-chicago-cubs-15-23.html
GBTS wrote:
(dying laughing)
@ josh:
Sparrows have tongues? I call bullshit (dying laughing)
Oh, BTW, they have that stupid Crosstown Cup at Wrigley. Miles took a pic of it.
i remember him getting drafted, the subsequent hand-wringing over his workload in the texas state high school tournament, that 98 season when it really started to look like the cubs were building something… and 14 years later they are still horrible.
I don’t know why he’s pitching at all to be honest.
Unless the plan is to hit every batter until he’s ejected.