Chicago Cubs Baseball

I hate being right. Especially when it comes to a player’s health and well being.

But there it was in my March 21st post, calling the shot known clear around the world: Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood would start the season on the disabled list. The announcement came yesterday after Wood’s tender right shoulder took a turn for the worse - and just kept heading south.

This doesn’t make me a Grand Poobah of Prognostication. All it means is I know how to read a sheet.

Anyone who’s ever spent any time at the horse track knows every horse has a sheet. The sheet, in horse parlance, is essentially the track record of every horse on the card.

Wood’s track record speaks for itself. At this juncture of his career, a healthy Wood could be considered nothing less than a long shot. Like from here to the moon.

This latest “setback,” as Cubs management refers to it, is his 11th time on the disabled list in 10 seasons. That’s right. You read correctly - the eleventh time!

Before I shed too many tears, however, it should be pointed out that Wood has accumulated a small fortune . In 10 seasons, the Tribune Company has shelled out nearly $45 million to Wood.

For those who like numbers, that’s about $40,000 per inning pitched. A remarkable statistic.

Baseball is a game of statistics. And lucky bounces and bad breaks. Kerry Wood has been victim - and beneficiary of both.

As much as it hurts to say - at the Cubs and their fans expense.

His debut in 1998 was nothing short of spectacular. He was our Great Hope in Cubbie blue.

Then it started. And time on the disabled list kept going and rolling. Until that brief reprieve in 2002-03 where he earned his paychecks and revived our hopes.

Alas, sometimes some things just aren’t meant to be. These are one of those times.

I hope the Cubs organization sees it the same as I do - and I believe, most Cub fans.

Please don’t prove me wrong.