Last weekend, appropriately on the final day of the Cubs Convention, Kerry Wood said his farewell to Chicago and the fans of the Chicago Cubs with full-page ads in both the Sun-Times and Tribune.
"It has been an honor to have been a Chicago Cub for the last 13 years and to have played in the greatest ballpark, Wrigley Field. My deepest thanks go to my teammates and the Cubs organization for taking a chance on a kid from Texas and welcoming me into the Cubs family. Thank you Cubs fans, the greatest fans in all of baseball, for believing in me and supporting me over the years. I will always be proud to have been a Chicago Cub. Although I'm a member of a new 'Tribe', I will forever be a Chicagoan."
The ad in the Sun-Times was in full color while the Tribune's was black and white. Here is a scan of the Sun-Times ad....
Many questions concerning Kerry Wood's departure were directed toward the Cubs front office during last weekend's convention. Wood will wear a new uniform for at least the next two seasons but is sure to receive a tremendous ovation when he returns to Wrigley in June with the Indians.
Kerry Wood will always be synonymous with the Chicago Cubs and the former Kid K showed a lot of class with his 'good-bye' to the City of Chicago, the organization and the fans.
- First Photo: 7/28/1995 - 1st Day as a Chicago Cub
- Second Photo: 1995 - 1998 - Minor Leagues
- Third Photo: 5/6/1998 - 20K Game
- Four Photo: 2008
ChicagoCubsOnline Tributes to Kerry Wood:
The man truly loved being a Cub.
God bless you!
He would've played for free if they asked him to. Best of luck Woody.
I still can't believe he is not a Cub anymore. I hope he has a great year in Cleveland.
There was a time where i stopped watching the cubs. The first game i watched in a long time was Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout game. Kerry made me a hardcore fan once again. I will always have fond memories of him playing for the Cubs. It sucks that he had the injury problems. He had a great attitude about it unlike Prior.
Class Guy...If I were a candle, I'd say that the Tribe is my 3rd favorite after the Cubs and the White Sox...but you all know how we feel about the Sox ;-]
Mark and Kerry make the Indians my second favorite team, which I usually never have, but with theese two it is inevitable!
Yeah, the Indians are now my second-favorite team, as well...Kerry Wood probably rejuvenated the interest of many Cub fans with that 20-strikeout game, and with his class and ability both on and off the field. Him Hendry really dropped the ball letting Woody and Mark DeRosa go.
Wood is not worth the 10m that we would had to pay him to stay. One of my fav cubs but how long has it been that he made it though an etire season. Marmol is going to have a great season. I just wish he wasnt pitching in the WBC. Gregg is alot better then his stats show. He had some shoulder problems at the end of the year. Will still need that lefty in pen to come in late innings. Cotts is not the answer.
Him may be Hendry, but the first name is 'Jim.' Good thing I know how to spell, huh?
I gotta agree with Agustin on that one. Plus, they have one of my favorite baseball movies!
Kerry is definately a class act and will be sorely missed.
roguesqr09, I agree..."Major League" is a great movie.
I see your point, Brandon, even as great as Woody was last year, that damn blister kept him from possibly reaching 40 saves...But I still woulda gave him the 10 mil.
Its makes harder to pay woody Larry when Marmol can get us the 40 saves. If we pay him 10 mil we dont get bradley.
Simply stated, Class Shows! In Kerry's case, class is his prevailing characteristic. And that is a wonderful footprint to leave behind.
No one's comportmnt is always good. I tried to sum up life's record in a poem once, and I'm now recalling a couple of lines: "And there is truth to this. Everyone does everything one does--With everything one is."
JimK, thats one hell of a way to put it. Kerry put his heart in everything and it showed. He will be missed on our team. Best of luck to him though, in all he does.
Cleveland visits Wrigley on June 20, 21 and 22. I want to be there just to give Wood and DeRosa standing O's.
Then I hope DeRo strikes out and Woody gets pounded.
Now since we lose Kerry Wood, I believe that our bullpen is very shaky. Can Carlos Marmol handle the job or even Kevin Gregg.
I agree with you Ronald.
Not real confident with our bullpen. I'm ok with Marmol closing, but getting there will be the problem.
Gregg is a very good picther he has saved 62 games out of 77 in the last 2 seasons. He just had a bad Sep and that was because he was hurt. Most of his blown saves were in that last month. He only gave up 3 homeruns all of last year and 7 the year before. People just give him a hard time because we gave up Ceda but he was probably 2 years away anyway. I like Marmol closing but it wouldn't surprise me if Gregg gets the job. Are bullpen is fine we just need to get that lefty for the late innings.
http://chicagocubsrumors.blogspot.com/
This is a link to a great site like this one!
Kerry will be missed.
Did The Employee give us a similar full page "thank you" when he left?!? ...