Chicago Cubs' Kerry Wood retiring

Chicago Cubs' Kerry Wood retiring

Kerry had one of the greatest rookie seasons in baseball history. The year was 1998. He was a starter back then, went 13-6, and struck out 12.6 batters per 9 innings, breaking the all-time record.

Mind you he was a rookie, and he struck out more guys than anyone ever had - Koufax, The Unit, Clemens, Nolan Ryan, Walter Johnson - all left in the dust. That is still the third-best single season of all time. And he allowed only 6.3 hits per nine innings.

And then?

In his second year ...

Well, he had no second year. He never pitched a single inning.

In his third year ...

He managed only 137 innings on the mound, with an ERA of 4.80. He gave up nearly 6 walks per 9 innings. (If you're not a big fan, well, that's a lot. In Maddux's best years, he allowed one walk per game or fewer. In 1997 Maddux allowed 20 walks in 232 innings.)

After that ...

The incessant injuries and the control problems continued. Throughout his career he never managed to get his ERA under 3.00 for a season. Not as a starter. Not as a reliever.

But there was always the hope that he might recapture the magic of that rookie year, or at least stay healthy, because when he was healthy there were flashes of brilliance, and he could still strike guys out. He led the league in Ks in 2003, and his lifetime ratio of strikeouts-to-innings is the second-best in history, behind only Randy Johnson. That's an impressive statement.

And yet we always expected so much more.