First a little walk down memory lane. It was a dreary, overcast Wednesday in May in 1998 (May 6th to be exact) when a 20 year old Kerry Wood took the mound and captivated 15,758 paid attendees, a city, an overexuberant Chip Carey - "HERE COMES THE HOOK!" - and dare I say a nation with quite possibly the best pitching performance ever.
Facing the Houston Astros, Wood struck out 20 batters while walking none. A grounder past Kevin Orie was all that stood between Wood and a no-hitter.
Thirteen years later I was thinking about how we could add a little competition to our league during a long season. I threw the idea out to Matt Bentel and he and I crafted what has become "K-Wood Day". On this day I keep track of all the strikeouts registered by each team's ACTIVE roster. The team with the most strikeouts wins a $25 mlb.com gift card.
We have competed in this format for two years (today being the third year). Interestingly in the inaugural season (2011) Cliff Lee recorded 16 strikeouts which led the Red Hots to claim the prize. The Candy Colored Clowns had Kerry Wood on their roster. They activated him and Wood was able to register one strikeout in relief in a competition named in his honor.
Past Winners:
2011 Mo's Red Hots
2012 Morkertzuma's Revenge
2013 ??????
This is why Cliff Lee has always been a Beatnik since there were Beatniks to be. And who should be taking the mound in Eukennott tonight? Cliff Lee.
ReplyDeleteAnd now that I've totally jinxed it...
A friend and I drove like mad from Green Bay one Thursday afternoon at the end of April, 1998, to catch a Cubs game at Wrigley. It was a cool, misty day and the whole trip down we were debating whether the game would even be played. I remember getting stuck in traffic on the Edens and thinking we'd never make the game.
We finally got to the Howard Street station and timed a southbound train pretty well. All in all we were beered and seated part way through the top of the first inning. This means we got to see the Cubs unload for five runs in the bottom of the first--so pretty much already a great game.
Wood had a pretty damn good game that night too--striking out nine over seven innings with two walks, giving up a single run. In the later innings it got pretty difficult to see the game with the fog rolling in off the lake but they played all nine innings.
After the game we got back into the car and drove back to Green Bay. Nine hours of driving to watch three hours of baseball. Glorious.
'Round about 11:30 on this day fifteen years ago I was sitting at my desk at work when the resident Cub fans walked up and said - "We're cuttin' out - we've got tickets for the game. You wanna come?" I looked at the pile of work on my desk, and the dreary weather outside and decided to pass. What an idiot.
ReplyDeleteOh that hurts, David. There should be a country song about this. At least I got to see a Cubs game (and win) by picking Wood's start before "The Game" for my roadie.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is why Scott Feldman has always been a Rebel since, well, April. In what may have looked like a complete 16th round guess, Feldman was actually acquired for the express purpose of helping Dem Rebels win K-Wood . . . ah forget it. Even I can't believe the drivel I'm typing. My team is so screwed.
ReplyDelete