| | Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Joe Girardi couldn't believe it when he caught
Kerry Wood in spring training.
He, like just about everybody else in the world, knew the 1998
NL Rookie of the Year had missed all of last season after
reconstructive elbow surgery. He knew pitchers took awhile to
recover from the operation. And he knew Wood still had a way to go
in his recovery program.
|  | | Kerry Wood's blister won't detour his comeback for long. Wood is slated to make his first start in more than a year Tuesday. |
Yet there Wood was, throwing 90 mph and looking just as
scary-good as he did two years ago.
"I'm really happy for him," Girardi said. "It's been a long
road, you know?"
The trip ends tonight, when Wood returns to the majors for the
first time since October 1998.
While it takes most pitchers about 18 months to recover from
"Tommy John" surgery, Wood has been on the fast track. He made
his first start in more than a year in a spring training game
against the crosstown rival White Sox and then made three strong
rehabilitation starts.
He was on schedule to make his return last week, but he
developed a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand and
had to be pushed back a few days.
"I'm excited," Wood said. "I'm sure I'll have some nerves
going. The first inning of every game I've pitched so far I've had
little butterflies, so I don't expect anything to change from that
aspect.
"Hopefully, I can settle down after the first hitter, calm down
and get in the groove."
If he does, look out, because there are few pitchers better when
he's in the zone. Just ask the Houston Astros. They had the
misfortune of being on the other end of Wood's 20-strikeout game in
just his fifth career start.
The Astros tried everything, but didn't come close to touching
him. Cubs first baseman Mark Grace said watching it reminded him of
facing Nolan Ryan his rookie season. Grace would swing at what he
thought was a fastball, only to wind up all twisted up and
flustered after the ball dipped to his ankles.
"Kerry gets what you call 'pretty strikeouts.' Fastballs right
by guys, breaking balls that buckle you or swings and misses by
five feet," Grace said. "I saw Kerry do it to a couple of the
Astros that day. Just making guys look bad."
And what do you know? In what has to be a bit of baseball karma,
guess who Wood faces tonight? None other than those poor Astros.
It's just four days shy of the two-year anniversary of the 20-K
game, too.
"One of the two or three most memorable games of my career was
watching him, from our dugout, strike out 20," Astros manager
Larry Dierker said. "Even in subsequent games that year, we never
touched him. So facing him again at Wrigley would definitely be
memorable."
Wood tied a major league record with his 20 strikeouts on May 6,
1998. He opened the game with five strikeouts in a row and fanned
seven straight during the seventh through ninth innings.
He was so dominant he gave up only one hit, a single to Ricky
Gutierrez in the third inning.
"The day he faced us, he was awesome," said Gutierrez, now
with the Cubs. "His arm is just tremendous. ... You know the
fastball is coming and you still have to get it going to hit it
because it's so overpowering.
"I'll be glad to be on his side instead of the opposing side,"
he added. "I already had that treatment."
Wood knows the expectations remain high despite his being away
from the game for a year. Fans can't see the scar on his right
elbow, so most expect him to be the same flame-throwing Kid K.
Maybe he will be. Maybe he won't. All Wood wants is the chance
to find out.
"I'm not going to try and do too much, nothing I'm not capable
of," he said. "I've worked 12½ months to get back here, and I'm
not going to come in and try to turn things around by any means. I
am going to get back in the rotation and go out there and try to do
my job." | |
ALSO SEE
A look back: Wood fans 20
Wood throws well, won't be delayed by blister
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Kerry Wood says he can wait a few more days for his return.
wav: 65 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Don Baylor believes he made the right decision.
wav: 145 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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