Kerry Wood's Chicago Obituary

Hope. Promise. Rookie of the Year. Legend. All-Star. Clubhouse leader. Community mainstay. Hero. Fan Favorite. An Answer to prayer.

Injury prone.

Kerry Wood was described as all of the above during what will be remembered as one of the most storied, yet heartbreaking tenures on Chicago's North Side.

A Texas high school legend, Wood's name was as big as his young body when the Cubs drafted him. The Chicago sports world waited on pins and needles for this kid with the amazing fastball and ungodly breaking balls to come to Wrigley and commence the dawn of an era of Cubs dominance.

And Kid K backed up the hype.

Within weeks of his arrival at the Friendly Confines, in a falling rain against division rival Houston, Kerry Wood threw what has been described by men that have seen decades of baseball as the best pitched game ever. He allowed one hit, while striking out 20. His bust had been ordered for Cooperstown, and his face had been etched on the hearts of Cubs fans everywhere for life.

And then the elbow problems. Apparently the force Wood was putting on his elbow to throw the breaking pitches that made the best in baseball shake their heads and walk away was too much. Tommy John, here we come.

But Kid K came back. He always did.

When the Second Coming of the Cubs' resurrection arrived in 2002-2003, Mark Prior teamed with Wood to make the Cubs two-headed giant Sports Illustrated coverboys. They were to become the greatest 1-2 tandem since Koufax and Drysdale.

And, again, Kid K backed it up. This time with a newfound "Robin" by his side, Wood dominated during the 2003 season and the Cubs blew through the Atlanta Braves like a hot knife through butter. Wood outhit the middle of the Braves batting order, and the Cubs appeared to be on the cusp of doing the unimaginable. They were within just a handful of outs of the World Series.

(moment of silence...end of commentary on 2003)

And then the injury problems were back again. Wood missed big parts of 2004, 2005, and a lot of 2006. Not until late in the 2007 season, as the Cubs drove for another postseason, did it appear that Wood could come back.

And Kid K came back, as he always did.

Wood buoyed a bullpen down the stretch and led Lou Piniella to make him the closer in 2008. How would the former starter with the checkered past take to his new role? Could he possibly be a closer? As will become his legacy in Chicago, Wood performed well.

Though he missed a few weeks in 2008 with (you guessed it) injury issues, he pitched extremely well. He earned a trip to the All Star game, and, yes, I mean earned. When he was healthy, Wood coupled with Carlos Marmol to give the Cubs a devastating back end of the bullpen that was, arguably, the best in the National League.

But this story of a kid who always came back, and who always backed up the talk, has run out in Chicago. There will be no more hometown discounts and pay cuts and short-term, incentive-heavy deals. It's time for Kerry Wood to move on to greener pastures (pun intended?), where the potential for a World Series ring might finally meet him.

Kerry Wood perfectly embodied all of the hopes, dreams and prayers of Cubs fans for the past 100 years.

And so, with the same heavy heart and swelling eyes I've had when Mark Grace left, and when Ryne Sandberg retired (both times), and when Greg Maddux was traded (both times), I wish Kerry Wood a fond farewell. I pray he finds the same success Grace and Maddux did in wherever his new home is, and if he doesn't, that his season's fate runs out at the hands of his Cubs.

Goodbye, No. 34. We'll have a standing ovation waiting for you when you come back home again. God bless.