Kerry Wood, a former ace starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs who eventually became a star reliever as well, is not in the news today for his hard-throwing. Rather, Wood found a dead body in Chicago's Belmont Harbor.
The ex-major league was paddle boarding in the harbor, according to reports, when he found a 40-year-old man floating in the water. The dead man had an identification on his left wrist, and had been reported by a nursing home following his June 19th release from a hospital.
According to police reports, Wood immediately dialed 911. The former pitcher, now a Cubs spring training instructor, declined to comment on his disconcerting find.
From 1998 to 2003, Wood was one of MLB's premier strikeout artists, totaling a career high 266 of them in 2003, in 211 innings of work. In 1998, he was the National League Rookie of the Year, putting the baseball world on notice of his arrival in a May 6th evisceration of the Houston Astros.
On that day, he tossed a complete game shutout in front of the assembled Wrigley Field audience, striking out 20 helpless Astros. It was his finest performance in an MLB uniform.
Wood was a two-time All-Star; he made it in 2003 as a starter and in 2008 as the Cubs closer. He had 34 saves that season. He made the move to the bullpen in 2007 due to constant injuries that would not allow him to put full seasons together.
In his career Wood pitched for the Cubs, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and then the Cubs again. With the Indians and Yankees he was exclusively a reliever, recording 28 saves with Cleveland.
He was a solid postseason performer as well, as a starter and reliever. His career playoff record is 2-2, with a 3.43 ERA and 45 strikeouts to his credit.
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