Chicago Cubs Baseball

Like a moth and a flame, Kerry Wood and Chicago Cubs baseball were meant for each other. Or maybe it’s just that they deserve each other.

Whatever the case, the two parties agreed to continue their faithful attraction with the signing of Wood to a one-year, $4.2 million contract Monday. The signing took Wood off the free agent market and ensured 2008 would be another season of wonder for the Chicago organization and its Cubbie faithful.

As if the upcoming season isn’t already strewn with wonder. Like who’ll be the next Cubs’ owner? Or who will replace John McDonough as club president? Or will the Chicago Cubs have anyone in the outfield for the 2008 season opener?

All good questions, but evidently not enough for Cubs’ general manager Jim Hendry, who once again showed his high-rolling nature by tossing those $4 million dice on a pitcher who’s thrown exactly 110 innings over the past three seasons. But then again, who’s counting when you have suitors like the World Champion Boston Red Sox knocking on Wood’s door?

Not that Wood didn’t show signs of his ol’ self during the 2007 stretch run. The right-hander appeared in 22 games, pitching 24.1 innings and recorded 24 strikeouts. The opposition batted just .207 against him.

All good numbers. Respectable numbers. But are those the kind of numbers that command a figure of $4.2 million? Or is that the going price for hope these days?

Because Chicago Cubs baseball, Kerry Wood and hope are synonymous with each other. Their separate fabrics form the weave of the Chicago Cubs’ franchise for the past 10 years.

It was Woods’ right arm where the Cubs and the fans lay their hopes of success. And it was that same right arm that offered so much promise but delivered, more often than not, just as much disappointment.

Loyalty won out this day in a business disguised as sport. Let’s hope for Cub nation, that in 2008 loyalty is rewarded in kind.

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