Kerry Wood Walks Away

There have been 274 no-hitters in MLB history, and 21 perfect games. Both feats are remarkable. But both require some degree of luck, and both have been achieved by some fluky pitchers (Philip Humber and Dallas Braden most recently, for example). The far rarer feat--one that depends almost entirely on pitching skill rather than fortune--is the 20-strikeout game. It serves as the ultimate barometer of true pitching dominance, and it's been accomplished only four times in a nine-inning game. Roger Clemens, arguably the greatest right-handed pitcher of all time, did it twice. Randy Johnson, arguably the greatest left-handed pitcher of all time, did it too. The only other man to accomplish the impossible feat? The now-retired Kerry Wood, on May 6th, 1998, which doubles as the single best pitching performance in baseball history. Wood was 20 years old at the time and it was his fifth major league start for the Chicago Cubs.

Wood finished that 1998 season with a staggering 233 strikeouts in just 166.2 innings. That 12.6 K/9 is the third-best single-season mark of all time. But then came the arm troubles. He missed the entire 1999 season thanks to Tommy John surgery, and was plagued by frequent DL stints throughout his career. Eventually his injury woes pushed him from starting to relieving, and from relieving to retirement.

That's the most tragic part of Kerry Wood's story: the embodiment of unfulfilled promise, he easily would've been one of the greatest pitchers of all time had his body and mechanics not failed him. Even with all the injuries, Wood still finished his career with the second-best strikeout rate (10.31) and 10th-best hit rate (7.1) of all time among pitchers with at least 1,000 career innings. Hitters couldn't touch him when he was on the mound; he just couldn't stay there long enough.

He remains a walking contradiction to this day. He was beloved as an underdog despite the great talents bestowed upon him. He's the author of the best-pitched nine-inning game in baseball history but will forever be remembered for a disappointing career that fell short of expectations. How fitting, then, that he entered his final appearance on Friday with an ugly ERA of 8.64, yet casually struck out Dayan Viciedo on three nasty pitches to finish his career the same way he started it: dominant.