Kerry Wood's 20 Strikeout Performance

by Kyle Boddy on May 6, 2008 7:02 PM PDT in News Comment 2 comments

Let us not forget one of the most dominating performances on the hill of all time, as today is the anniversary of Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout performance vs. the Astros and the killer B's.

Take a look at this slider:

Kerry Wood's Slider

So nasty. Oh, what could have been if it weren't for his injurious flaws and his ridiculous overuse at the hands of Dusty Baker. It's unfortunate that Baker has ruined so many promising arms, including Prior, Wood, and Nen, but until baseball front offices actually care about the health of their pitchers by reviewing their mechanics from a medical standpoint, we'll only see more of the same.

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Wood had his TJ surgery WAY before Baker was there.

In fact,
Don Baylor in 2002 had him pitch 213.66 innings
Baker in 2003 had him 211 innings

When you say overuse… are you talking about purely 2003 when he already has an injury history?

Or between 1998-2002 when Baker wasn’t there?

BTW..
I’m a Reds fan and I hate Baker… just seems like your totally out of line.

by MlbFan30 on May 6, 2008 11:39 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Kerry Wood’s overuse problems date back to high school, where he pitched back to back complete games. Dusty Baker is just one of many managers who abuse their pitchers. Note how he treated both Prior and Nen, as well.

Fortunately with pitch counts and innings pitched limits these days, it’s tougher for a manager to do this without getting serious heat from the media.

by Kyle on May 6, 2008 11:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs