Chris Jaffe does an excellent job highlighting the best and worst of Kerry Wood's career on The Hardball Times. It's a long list and a fun read. I'll quote one here.
May 11, 1998: Following up his 20-K game, Wood fans 13 batters, giving him a record-tying 33 strikeouts in two consecutive appearances.
I was at this game in Arizona. It was as good a follow-up to his 20-K game as possible. The Cubs took an early 3-0 lead and Wood didn't allow a run until he gave up a home run in the 7th. He'd gone 21 consecutive innings without allowing a run stretching back to his 4th big league start when he allowed a run in the 1st. I lived in Arizona at the time and later that summer I attended the Cubs/Dbacks 4-game series to see Sammy Sosa hit grand slams in back to back games. 1998 was a fun year.
Sounds like a year you recently enjoyed.
I tried to read that Steve Rosenbloom column shared about three threads ago but my iPhone kept crashing so I think it’s a sign that I shouldn’t bother (dying laughing)
Sigh….
Here’s a question. Why not anybody else in the world? Why Koyie Hill?
@ Aisle424:
That was when Maddux was old, and his abilities came to resemble those of a normal human.
@ josh:
Since he was acquired for “cash considerations” I imagine that the Reds were pretty happy to get rid of him and get the GroupOn in trade.
He was still quite good and the rest of that staff should have kicked ass. I bought all of their jerseys so I could wear the right one to the ballpark no matter who was pitching. I knew the Clement was tossing my money away, but I was confident in the other 4 being worth it. Damn it all.
At least Koyie knows most of the staff. There really aren’t that many catching options out there. Not that can be had without giving up more valuable assets, anyway.
@ Aisle424:
Maddux probably just farted in that picture
@ Aisle424: Blake Lalli is on the 40-Man. Jason Jamarillo was a spring training invitee I recently enjoyed.
Think about it this way: When Steve Cleveage and Beef Wellington return, we get to see Koyie Hill end his major league career being straight-up released by the Cubs.
Can’t wait for Koyie to homer tonight just to piss us off even more
@ Berselius:
He’ll need to use his patented “Beer League Softball Swing” to do that. He should do that every at bat: Swing at a really high pitch with that awkward-ass swing we saw last year.
Pezcore wrote:
I have no problem with that, but he gets to have one more hurrah on a “major league” team before he goes off into the sunset. When you lose the top 3 catchers in your system all at the same time, there isn’t a hell of a lot else you can do.
@ Aisle424:
Theo really should’ve done more to figure out who his ninth catcher was going to be.
/Red Sox media’d
@ Aisle424:
How much longer is Steve Cleveage out? I wouldn’t mind seeing Lalli for a week.
@ Pezcore:
The interwebs said Clevenger would be back by next weekend. Here’s hoping.
Pezcore wrote:
I don’t know, but Lalli is just Koyie Hill before he had major league experience as far as I can tell.
I guess that is what grinds my gears. We have a serviceable starting catcher, who has better minor league numbers, already on the 25-Man and yet we start Hill over a player who’s been plugging away in the organization for years.
Steve Cleveage is out, what, two more weeks tops?
Yeah, but 2012 Koyie Hill can’t hit in A Ball and is an asshole.
O-Dog —> White Sox
The 1998 Cubs were a ton of fun, but they were basically a mediocre team boosted by good luck (beating the pythag. by 5 wins) and Sammy Sosa.
They had a pretty good offense that season (thanks to Sammy mostly), but their starting pitching was Kerry Wood and a bunch of guys with ERA’s way over 4.
ACT wrote:
And my 98′s boomin’ with a trunk of funk
/PE’d
Who the shit cares who the fourth catcher is on a last place team?
@ Suburban kid:
Most Cubs fans were hoping the Koyie Hill era was over, but here he is, back in the lineup.
@ ACT:
I know, but it doesn’t matter. This team is done.
ACT wrote:
Yeah, they weren’t all that good. They were just fun to watch. The 2001 Cubs are another team that wasn’t very good, but ended up with a pretty good record. That’s once again thanks to Sammy Sosa.
@ Suburban kid:
Don’t try to reason with it. It’s not really a rational thing.
@ mb21:
I do miss the Cubs having one player so good, the team can occasionally luck its way into the playoffs (when I started watching, it was Sandberg.)
@ Suburban kid:
I agree. The Cubs had pretty good depth at the position, but I’m wondering how much depth really even matters. Last year they had depth in the rotation and we ended up getting some of the worst pitchers imaginable because they all ended up sucking or getting injured or suspended.
I think the better question to those who are upset at this is at what point is it acceptable for the Cubs to pick Koyie Hill up? To them it’s clear losing the top 3 catchers isn’t yet there. What about the top 4?
I figure the Cubs sucked. They picked up a sucky catcher to get through a sucky period so they can perhaps suck a little less than they’d have sucked without him on the roster. (dying laughing)
@ ACT:
I miss it a lot. I think I’ve written about it 10 times now. Part of the reason I even bothered to tune into those teams were to see the starts like Sandberg, Maddux and later Sosa and even Zambrano after that. As good as Castro is, he’s just not them.
I know Josh Hamilton was mentioned here yesterday and I’d love to see the Cubs take a run at him. I’d be thrilled to have that kind of talent locked up in one player again. Sure, it could end up being a huge waste of money, but the guy is super talented.
@ mb21:
Also why I was half-hoping they’d make a serious run at Pujols. Not a wise decision, but one that would have me watching Cubs games every chance I get.
I just can’t get mad about Koyie Hill. I think it’s pretty funny that he’s back.
The Cubs are getting closer to what we hoped for at the beginning of the season: funny bad instead of just bad.
@ Suburban kid:
Sveum should have an all-bunting game.
@ mb21:
yeah, that is exactly what I was thinking. Just give me one reason to tune in. PLEASE. i can’t get excited about anything on this team. The inevitable crash and burn of LaHair is about it.
@ ACT:
Isn’t that what he was doing in that extra innings game against the Phils or whoever?
Ugh Thom Brenaman and Eric Karros have said not one thing of any substance in 15 minutes. Just steady bullshit.
@ josh:
Mute and put on Pat and Keith?
@ Rice Cube:
They never line up right. I find it frustrating.
@ josh:
I get semi-excited about games in which Dempster and Garza start. I enjoy watching LaHair and when Castro is actually taking pitches he’s fun to watch too. He’s fun no matter what I guess because he’s such a good hitter, but if he had any patience whatsoever he could be a lot better. But none of these guys are players that I have to watch. I had to tune in to watch Sosa. I had to watch Sandberg. Same with Maddux. Same with Zambrano and for awhile Wood and Prior too.
@ mb21:
Exactly. I want to see if Garza does well, but the excitement level isn’t there.
(dying laughing) I say get somewhat excited about a Dempster start, but I neither knew that he was pitching today or that they had already started.
This team desperately needs a superstar.
@ mb21:
You aren’t missing much. He’s pitching like shit.
@ mb21:
i think that’s why they’re keeping B Jax and those guys in reserve. They probably won’t be superstars, but most people don’t know that. So you build anticipation. It’ll get people in the seats for half a season or so, so you time it to when you need the influx of income.
My dog just killed and ate a fucking bird. It’s not the first time, but it’s disgusting every time it happens.
New shit:
http://www.obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/kerry-wood-portrait-of-cubness.html