Beggars and choosers
Piggybacking off of yesterday's post, I'd like to revisit the release of Kerry Wood for the last time... this week.
One of the big reasons this season was so exciting for me personally - a
nd I suspect for many Cubs fans - was that Wood returned and was able to keep plowing forward and stay healthy for most of the season.
Of course, many of us saw this as a good omen and were proved wrong for the 100th consecutive year. No, we'll never learn.
To be totally honest, I'd rather see Chicago hoist the World Series trophy with Wood on the field, but at this point, it doesn't make any sense to start setting conditions for a victory that has eluded the team for a century.
It reminds me of the buzz that whips up around a team as they are a game away from winning it all, but will be playing on the road. The fans really, really want to see the final game on their home field, but unless they've gotten greedy, most fans don't breathe a word of this until after the last out goes in the book.
Obviously, the Cubs are not even close to this position.
While a championship with Wood on the roster would have been nice, the Cubs obviously see the need to win with whatever combination works. I guess that counts as progress at Clark and Addison, so I'll take it.
While I will miss Wood as much as anybody, I embrace any sort of change that brings a title to the North Side, short of purchasing the New York Yankees and teaching their pitchers how to bunt.
I will, however, take a degree of solace in knowing that Wood - for better or for worse from his standpoint - has been branded as a lifelong Cub, much like Mark Grace before him. So, while I'll quietly watch the rest of his career on MLB Extra Innings and cheer for him after overpaying for his services in fantasy baseball, I can also get behind the moves to push Carlos Marmol to the forefront of the bullpen and welcome any space cleared in the budget to try and move the team forward into an additional round of the playoffs.
And who knows, maybe this isn't goodbye to Wood as stranger things have happened at the trading deadline. It worked with Maddux, right?
(Image from: Some random Wordpress blog, so it's probably not even theirs)
One of the big reasons this season was so exciting for me personally - a
nd I suspect for many Cubs fans - was that Wood returned and was able to keep plowing forward and stay healthy for most of the season.Of course, many of us saw this as a good omen and were proved wrong for the 100th consecutive year. No, we'll never learn.
To be totally honest, I'd rather see Chicago hoist the World Series trophy with Wood on the field, but at this point, it doesn't make any sense to start setting conditions for a victory that has eluded the team for a century.
It reminds me of the buzz that whips up around a team as they are a game away from winning it all, but will be playing on the road. The fans really, really want to see the final game on their home field, but unless they've gotten greedy, most fans don't breathe a word of this until after the last out goes in the book.
Obviously, the Cubs are not even close to this position.
While a championship with Wood on the roster would have been nice, the Cubs obviously see the need to win with whatever combination works. I guess that counts as progress at Clark and Addison, so I'll take it.
While I will miss Wood as much as anybody, I embrace any sort of change that brings a title to the North Side, short of purchasing the New York Yankees and teaching their pitchers how to bunt.
I will, however, take a degree of solace in knowing that Wood - for better or for worse from his standpoint - has been branded as a lifelong Cub, much like Mark Grace before him. So, while I'll quietly watch the rest of his career on MLB Extra Innings and cheer for him after overpaying for his services in fantasy baseball, I can also get behind the moves to push Carlos Marmol to the forefront of the bullpen and welcome any space cleared in the budget to try and move the team forward into an additional round of the playoffs.
And who knows, maybe this isn't goodbye to Wood as stranger things have happened at the trading deadline. It worked with Maddux, right?
(Image from: Some random Wordpress blog, so it's probably not even theirs)
Labels: Cubs, Hot Stove 08-09
posted by Matt G at
9:40 AM
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