Kerry Wood striking out Derek Bell of the Houston Astros for his record-tying 20th strikeout.

almost 4 years ago EJThunder 11 comments 0 recs |

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This goes along with the other video I posted on here. Goes more in depth on the last strikeout.

FUN FACTS:

MAY 6, 1998

Fans in left field held up a "K" for every Wood strikeout.

Wood had 45 strikeouts prior to this game in just 27 1-3 innings.

His previous high strikeout game was 14 in August, '97 in Triple-A.

Both the Cubs and the Astros clocked a couple of Wood's pitches at 100 mph.

Wood threw 122 pitches, 84 for strikes.

It rained off and on during the last three innings.

Wood struck out the side in the first, fifth, seventh and eighth innings, and fanned two each in the second, fourth and ninth, and one each in the third and the sixth.

If not for a third-inning single off third baseman Kevin Orie's glove by Ricky Gutierrez, he would have had a no-hitter. Kevin Orie reached out but did not attempt to dive.

I dug all of this up. Courtesy: cbsnews.com

The Time Is Now. [Chicago Cubs, '08]

by EJThunder on Mar 17, 2008 7:41 PM CDT reply actions

Those "K" signs were just coincidental.

ISTR there was some sort of promotion handing them out on that day -- way before anyone had any inkling what Kerry would do that day.

I remember the rain. It finally stopped right when the 9th inning started.

Had Gutierrez' ball been hit in the 7th, say, instead of the 3rd, I have no doubt the official scorer would have ruled it an error. Orie did get a glove on the ball.

Wood has five career shutouts. Of those, two were one-hitters, one a two-hitter, and two four-hitters.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Mar 17, 2008 7:50 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, like you said, too bad the Gutierrez grounder wasn't in the latter, rainy-ish innings so it would be an error (Sorry Orie... he even said himself).

But you gotta also be thankful mother nature didn't decide to make this game a complete washout.

The Time Is Now. [Chicago Cubs, '08]

by EJThunder on Mar 17, 2008 8:09 PM CDT up reply actions

Oh, absolutely.

That is, arguably (and note I say "arguably") the most dominant pitching performance in the history of baseball.

The only one that, IMO, competes with that is Sandy Koufax' perfect game in 1965. Against the Cubs, of course.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Mar 17, 2008 9:37 PM CDT up reply actions

most dominant

I know that Kerry's performance in this game garnered him the best pitcher's game score ever with a 105. I can't find the source at this time as it's St. Patty's day and I've had a few too many.

by bikemonkey on Mar 18, 2008 12:34 AM CDT up reply actions

Just watched this again for...

...for the first time in years. I was struck by the 0 (yes) walks. Wow. - TL

"Why shouldn't we believe that we're going to win the World Series?" - Ted Lilly, 1/19/2008, Daily Herald interview w/Barry Rozner

by timlacy on Mar 28, 2008 9:47 AM CDT up reply actions

he looks so young!

and look at all those names...

2008: The year we put it all together.

by drewishdrewid on Mar 17, 2008 8:41 PM CDT reply actions

I remember

driving home from work listening to this and screaming with every K! Good times...

"WGN, Channel 9 Cubs Baseball, Excitingly, Importantly, Dramatically Yours." - Jack Brickhouse

by BigJohnAZ on Mar 18, 2008 12:44 AM CDT reply actions

Wow, that last pitch to Bell

is incredible, it had like a 2 foot break on it

"Prince Fielder Dies Of Inside-The-Park Homerun" - The Onion

by DTJchris on Mar 18, 2008 2:33 PM CDT reply actions

there are certain events you dont forget..

..and this is one of them for me. It gave me the chills watching it again....

One thing that seems to get overlooked is how good that Astros team was offensively that year
Alou, Bagwell, Biggio, Carl Everett and of course D Bell. Four of those five finished the year with .300+ BA

Let me get back to you, will ya, Charlie? I got a guy on the other line asking about some white walls.

by JB 23 on Mar 18, 2008 7:44 PM CDT reply actions