I used to always be fascinated by the mini replica of the player in the bottom left of the card. Such a cool, simple feature to the card. I also love the blue theme to these 'Opening Day' cards. Cubs fans must really have loved it since they're of course heavily blue themed.
Kerry Wood is another name in baseball I'll probably always recognize. He was a quality pitcher from 1998-2012 as a starter and reliever AND closer.
Wood has really had a fascinating career. He was on a tear as a rookie in 1998 as he won NL Rookie of the Year. It's one of his best seasons of his career as he went 13-6 and recorded 233 strikeouts with a 3.40 ERA. Most notably, Wood struck out 20 batters in a one-hit shut out of the Astros. It was incredible and is tied for the most strikeouts in a game in MLB history.
He missed 1999 due to injury and was a solid starting pitcher for about four to five seasons and was even an All-Star in 2003 before decline in play and injuries made him transition into a reliever and a closer and he did pretty well at that! in 2008 he recorded 34 saves and earned his second All-Star selection as a closer!
Wood would go on to play for a few more seasons with the Yankees and Indians before rejoining the Cubs for a bit. He wasn't dominant in his final years but often held a decent .ERA.
He retired in 2012. So in summary, Kerry Wood was a dominant Rookie of the Year, got injured, turned into a respectable All-Star starting pitcher and then turned into an All-Star closer. Inspiring stuff.
Kerry Wood retired with an 86-75 record, 63 saves, a 3.67 ERA and 1,582 strikeouts.
