Brief Recap of the 2013 Draft

Wow, has it really been six and a half months since the last post?  I guess it has.  Well with baseball back in full swing there is plenty to talk about.  We will get there in due time.  But as is tradition here at the Monroe Doctrine it is time to kick off the year with the 2013 CFCL Draft In Review.

Every year the draft brings some interesting things and this year was no exception.  With three owners living out of state and an early Easter this year, coordinating schedules was a challenge.  The Ruffins were unable to make it in to town, which sucked.  Every year you can always count on Dave’s humor to keep the draft moving along.  But whenever a door closes a window opens, as they say and our window was former Copperfield owner, David Mahlan.  David had been the heart and soul of the league for 27 years before retiring back in 2010.  He has been sorely missed and we have tried everything to get him back.  Well it finally worked.  David agreed to be the proxy for David’s Ruffins.  Patched in with a Bluetooth headset and cellphone, David was the voice for the Ruffins and a welcome sight for the CFCL.

I just committed the biggest sin (or one of them) in journalism.  I buried the lead.  The lead of the blog should be - - - THE CFCL TURNS 30 THIS YEAR!  Thirty years ago David approached me about a little green book he found in the sports section of the book store and the rest is history.  Actually the rest and the history is being presented on a separate blog.  For those of you so inclined, I invite you to visit http://cfclrebelcopperfield.blogspot.com/ where you will be able to read daily entries pertaining to the history of the CFCL.  Our goal is to provide an update daily with historical knowledge about the league, trivia, video clips and Q&A from former and current owners.

Back to this year’s draft.  We had some interesting things take place.  The owner of The Danger had an unavoidable conflict arise and couldn’t attend, so he sent his brother to draft for him.  So for the first time in CFCL we had two proxies sitting in.

The Ruffins invoked the Ruffin Privilege at 12:55pm and brought up Troy Tulowitzki and we were off to the races.

A few hours into the draft, for the second time ever, we had an owner depart before the draft ended.  Dan, the proxy for The Danger, received word that he had feverish children at home.  Doing the only thing he could, he left to take care of his family.  But not before he nominated Carlos Marmol for bidding a .05.  I will grant you this is a Cub Fans League (that’s with CFCL stands for – Cub Fan Club League), but nobody took the bait.  Nine owners passed quickly and Marmol took his seat in the Danger bullpen.

**If my memory is right about this one, the only other time an owner left the draft before it was over was in 2002 when the Resevoir Dogs had to leave, also due to an ill child.**

Within six nominations of each other, Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay were brought up for bidding.  The strange thing this year about that is that Halladay was brought up at the end of Round 4 and Lincecum in the middle of Round 5.  Normally they would have gone early in Round 1.  The other crazy thing is that Halladay went for .11 and Lincecum for .10.  Combined .21.  The last time they were available at the draft Halladay was taken at .37 (DoorMatts – 2010) and Lincecum went for .37 as well (Twin Killers – 2012).  How quickly baseball changes.  A combined .74 down to a combined .21.  Rafael Soriano basically went for the same price (.20) as those two combined.

When the Danger Proxy left, the Danger still needed four active players and an entire reserve list of seventeen.  In what may actually have been a first, the Danger completed their roster three days after the draft ended.  In the short run they don’t seem to be too damaged as they are entrenched in sixth.  But the Reserve List usually shows its strength or weakness in the dog days of the season, so we’ll see what staying power the Danger have in the long run.

The highest player salary this year was Joey Votto (.49 to the Clowns) [Honorable Mention to Carlos Gonzalez who went for .48 to the Danger).  Most expensive pitcher was Cliff Lee (.41 to the Beatniks).  The Twin Killers picked up the first penny player, Donovan Solana, in the second round.

And five hours and five minutes after the Auction Draft began, the Kenndoza Line took Daniel Descalso to complete the draft.

The Real Starlin Castro

In some respects I hope that Starlin Castro is the next Andruw Jones.  First of all hitting 433 homeruns so far is pretty cool (as long as they weren’t chemically assisted).  Ten consecutive Gold Gloves makes a fan salivate, especially if it came from a shortstop.  But perhaps the piece de resistance is the fact that Jones hit two homeruns in the World Series for the team that drafted him and promoted him from the minors.  As a long suffering Cubs fan, the thought of Castro hitting two homeruns for the Cubs in a World Series is beyond comprehension.  So based on the above, I wouldn’t mind it if Castro was the Cubs version of Andruw Jones.

Upon further review, there are some striking similarities.  Both Castro and Jones had their first full year in the majors at age 20.  They both finished 5^th in the Rookie of the Year voting.  After three years in the majors Castro has 511 hits, Jones had 413 hits.  Castro had 57 steals to Jones 71 and Castro has a .336 OBP compared to Jones having a .339 OBP after three years.

Unfortunately it doesn’t end there.  Despite winning ten consecutive Gold Glove Awards, Jones was, on multiple occasions, pulled during a game and even DURING AN INNING for lackadaisical effort.  Castro has the same tendencies.  The first one is well known, because Castro decided to completely ignore a couple of pitches on a nationally televised game.  Bobby Valentine, before he went to Boston to deconstruct the Red Sox, went to great lengths to deconstruct Castro’s performance during the at bat.  Castro, apparently thinking of an out he made while batting, was playing shortstop and turned his back to the plate while Ryan Dempster was in the middle of his windup.  Many Chicagoans jumped on Valentine’s case for embarrassing Castro.  While I can’t stand Valentine, he wasn’t wrong.  Castro completely exposed his team while in the field and then-manager Mike Quade should have run out the backup shortstop and pulled Castro before Dempster threw another pitch.  The fortunate part about that play was that the ball was never put in play and Castro resumed paying attention with the next pitch.

This season he wasn’t so lucky.  The Cubs were in Houston last Tuesday.  Yes the Astros and Cubs are playing for the vaunted “Please Don’t Let Us Lose 100 Games Award” and so the game was basically meaningless.  But no game is really meaningless.  The Cubs were on a four game winning streak (in fact they won the following two games as well, so a win here gives them a nice seven game run).  Guys are playing for their job next year; managers are trying to instill a certain ethic expected of their team; etc.  With the Cubs trailing 1-0 in the top of the sixth, here’s what happened.

Starlin Castro led off with a single to center.  Steve Clevenger struck out swinging.  With one out and Castro on first Dave Sappelt doubled to right putting Castro on third.  Then the braindead kicked in.  Darwin Barney lifted a flyball to center deep enough to score Castro.  Sappelt thought it was deep enough for him to get to third.  Turns out he was wrong.  He was thrown out at third for an inning ending unconventional double play.  Not a big deal until you see the replay that shows Castro cadillacing his way home and actually looking over his shoulder to watch the play at third.  In doing so he slowed himself down enough that he didn’t cross the plate before Sappelt was tagged at third, therefore the run didn’t score.  Cubs lose 1-0.

Will Castro grow up?  He’s 22, so yes he has some maturing to do.  But at age 22 many people are college graduates and working in Corporate America.  It’s not asking too much for a 22 year old to play (mind you PLAY – not WORK) a game he’s been playing for probably 15 years to the fullest of his ability.

I love Starlin Castro.  Love him to the tune of a four year, .25 contract in my fantasy league.  And maybe he’s extra irritating because he’s both on my favorite major league team and my fantasy team.  Maybe he’s extra irritating because the Cubs broadcast all 162 games on television so I can see each of his mistakes where if he played for the Orioles or Padres I’d only see the really stupid mistakes that make the highlight reels.  Maybe it’s because I just finished ten years of Aramis Ramirez dogging it around the bases and in the field and I’m looking for a fresh, revitalized star that gives his all.

And maybe, just maybe that’s what Castro is and I will end up remembering him more for his spectacular bat and not being pulled off the field in the middle of an inning.

Getting Called Up To The Big Leagues

“Have you had skin cancer before?”  And with that question, my battle against cancer began.  To be honest, it wasn't really much of a battle.  I have friends, clients and family members that have fought against cancer.  They have lost body parts, undergone extensive radiation and chemotherapy and been part of experimental drug treatments.  These people have been to war.

My battle was more like a squirt gun fight.  Basal Cell Carcinoma is, in fact, a form of skin cancer.  But as I was told by the dermatologist it’s the best kind to have.  Kind of like being given a dining choice of sautéed liver, live slugs and rare bird droppings of Indonesia.  While the fried liver is at least the most healthy, you really wouldn’t want any of them.

The fight was basically over before the bell rang.  A 30 minute procedure to remove a chunk of my back roughly the size of a large marble and it was done.  [I will, however, have a new and empathetic view of the pumpkin this Halloween.]  Sure there were follow up visits to remove stitches and do a full body examination to make sure no more Basal Cells were lurking elsewhere.  But basically that was it.

So now I guess I’m in the community of cancer survivors.  But it really feels like I’m saying “I’m a member of the 2004 World Champion Red Sox” when in fact, yes, I was on the team - but as a back-up catcher with 24 at bats and was sent down in August.

It all started innocently enough with a somewhat routine visit to the dermatologist.  I say somewhat routine in that I had never been to the dermatologist before.  I was there for a thing on my back that had been there for over a year.  It was a source of entertainment for the family as we affectionately called it “The Lesion”.  It itched, it freaked the kids out (in a good way) and basically added to the amusement my body brings to the family (think Shrek without the green hue and ears on top of the head).

My primary physician said it was most likely an open wound but since it hadn’t healed itself over the course of a couple of months I should go to the dermatologist.  He was reasonably certain it wasn’t cancer.

The dermatologist said that whatever had been there was pretty much gone and it just needed to heal.  However, to be on the safe side, she was going to slice off a biopsy of the surrounding tissue and have it analyzed.

Had either health professional been as blasé about this as I had been for more than a year, it would never have been diagnosed.

*Side note – previously I had visited doctors for various leg, shoulder and other body ailments, which ended in a “there’s nothing there” diagnosis.  So rather than waste time, pay the co-pay and be poked and prodded, I chose to ignore and wait for the healing to begin.  All this despite my wife telling me for a year, “You should really have that thing checked out.”

A few days after the biopsy the call came and the rest is 2004 Boston Red Sox World Series history.

In a weird spin away from normal major league baseball, I’m hoping I don’t get called up to the majors again.

Take from this what you will.  I don’t think there’s a deep(er) message.  Maybe just don’t think you’re crying wolf even if in the past something was nothing.  This time it might be something, if nothing more than fried liver.

The Bar is So Low You Can Step Over It

This year it was my turn to get my driver’s license renewed.  As I sat there waiting to be processed, I was able to observe some interesting things.  What does getting a driver’s license renewal have to do with sports?  Let’s find out.

I saw what’s great about America; its diversity - people from all walks of life, all ages, all ethnic groups.  Not unlike baseball.  We have age diversity (Bryce Harper, age 19; Jamie Moyer, age 49).  We have Panamanians, Americans, Japanese, Dominican, Cubans and even White Sox.

One thing I couldn’t stand, aside from the waiting time, was that everything was dumbed down to the lowest common denominator.  Can’t understand someone telling you to wait in Line D?  Don’t worry, there’s a HUGE arrow leading you to a HUGE sign that says “D”.  Do we want the lowest common denominator driving a seven thousand pound vehicle?  My oldest daughter has yet to receive a B in school as she enters her sophomore year.  I’m not sure I want her on the roads.  And she’s intelligent.

I saw people bringing their children to the facility so the children could INTERPRET FOR THEIR PARENTS!!!  If you can’t speak the local language, I’m assuming you can’t READ the local language.  If you’re incapable of doing either, how can you drive safely?

In sports, especially children’s sports, everyone has to be included.  We’re not allowed to have just the best of the best or those deserving participate-win-succeed.  Hockey allows more than half their teams into the playoffs.  Basketball has eight teams in each conference get to the playoffs so many times the seventh and eighth seeds haven’t even won more games than they’ve lost.  In Major League Baseball, Bud Dumber has decided that more is more (which actually is less) in baseball by including another wild card team.  Supposed to create excitement or something.  In kid sports everyone receives a trophy nowadays – just for participating.

At the DMV, by allowing for interpreters, by having signs a second grader could follow, we are perpetuating the societal view that everyone should be allowed to do everything.

I have four children and that means that I am an expert on “The Incredibles”.  In the movie, the evil boy-genius has a plan of perfecting his “evil super powers”.  His ultimate goal is to give everyone super powers, because “if everyone is super, then no one is.”  That’s our society in a nutshell.

Everyone has trophies, certificates, driver’s licenses.  And if someone doesn’t, rather than encourage that person to raise his bar for achievement, society looks to lower the bar and find a way to create another category so that a certificate or trophy or license can be handed to that one unfortunate sole.

Look around you.  It’s everywhere.  The Mortgage Loan fiasco, while surely driven by greed and profit, could also be viewed as making sure everyone achieved the American Dream by owning a home way bigger than they need, whether they could afford it (deserved it) or not.

An argument could be made that Baseball’s Hall of Fame is getting to be the same way.  Statistically it still is home to the fewest members of the major sports.  But major leaguers with good careers are making it into the Hall.  But that’s another blog for another day.

California Dreamin'

For those of you loyal Monroe Doctrine subscribers, and this posting is dedicated to one in particular, you may recall that I was amazed we had received hits from all over the WORLD, yes I said WORLD.  (Monroe Doctrine, May 17, 2011 “The World is Warming Up to the Monroe Doctrine)  I couldn’t believe that anyone outside of the league would tap into our little fantasy life and so I figured the furthest interest would be North Carolina, home of the four-time champion Ruffins.

Again, I am amazed at the ability of the internet to make the world smaller.  In the last two months alone we have had hits from (I’m not making this up) Kiev, Kyyiv, Ukraine; Wichita, KS; Eden Prairie, MN; Russian Federation; Pordenone, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy (Hi Dave on sabbatical!); Oakland, CA; Milpitas, CA; Buffalo, NY, San Francisco, CA (Hi Matt on vacation!); and four visits from a friend in Mountain View, CA.  I say a “friend” because Mountain View, CA has long been tapping in to the silliness of our league.  I always wondered what could be so interesting about a fantasy baseball league in the suburbs of Chicago that someone on the other side of the country would keep coming back.  So in true Monroe Doctrine form, we decided to find out.  Also true to form, we didn’t bother ourselves with actually interviewing Mountain View, CA, so what follows will no doubt be news to them as well as to you.

MD:  So who are you exactly?

MV:  If it’s all right with you, I would prefer not to use my name.  For reasons that should be obvious, consistently tapping in to a Fantasy Baseball Newsletter is not something I want my friends and neighbors to know about.  You can call me Mountain View.

MD:  Fair enough.  Let’s start there.  Tell us about Mountain View.

MV: In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m not in Mountain View, California.  That apparently is where my Internet hub is located.  Until I am convinced that the CFCL and Monroe Doctrine is not a shell front for some organized stalking organization, let’s keep working on the assumption that I’m in Mountain View.  With that being said, Mountain View is a beautiful bedroom community at the south end of the San Francisco Bay.  We’re close enough to get to either a Giant or A’s game in a matter of minutes, but far enough way that even in his most steroid-hopped-up-stupor Barry Bonds couldn’t reach us with a homerun.

MD:  What brought you to our humble publication?

MV:  Oh just general Internet searching about baseball related articles.  The Monroe Doctrine was listed in one of the results lists and I was intrigued.

MD:  What has brought you back?

MV:  There’s a certain je ne sais crois.  And let me tell you, most Californians don’t understand that phrase.  Call it whimsy, call it variety, call it Midwestern home spun Americana.  I check in every week or two to see if there’s something new that’s worth reading.  As much as I’ve enjoyed past articles I will say it would be nice if you stepped it up a bit.

MD:  Point taken.  Do you participate in fantasy baseball?

MV:  I do.  I guess I was hoping for some insight on players to acquire, winning strategies, etc.  But considering you haven’t had a winning season since 2002 I may be looking under the wrong streetlight.  On an unrelated topic, does The Professor write a baseball blog?

MD:  Ahem, he has written many politically insightful articles, but to date I believe he was steered clear of baseball.  How long have you been involved in fantasy baseball?

MV:  A couple of years.  I understand one of your owners is commissioner of a league based here in California.  Amazing dedication to fly halfway across the country to draft ballplayers you’ll never meet.

MD:  Agreed.  Not to toot our own horn, but that’s one of the amazing qualities about the CFCL.  We currently have three owners that make it a point to travel in from other states to attend the draft, live and in person.

MV:  That is amazing.  Now more about me.  When I go to games I tend to go to A’s games.  When I attend a Giants game, I’ll cheer for whomever they are playing.

MD:  Why is that?  Are you more American League than National League?

MV:  Not at all.  National League is in my DNA.  I just can’t stand the Giants.  The park is beautiful, but between Baker’s managing, Bonds, Kent and a few others, I just can’t stand the Giants.  I’m more of a Dodgers fan.

MD:  Fascinating.  It’s almost like the teams never left the burroughs of New York.  Any last comments?

MV:  Thanks for the shout out.  Now leave it alone.  I feel like I’m going to see some dork in a CFCL hat peering in my window some evening.  If so, you’ll have to change the name of your league to the Clandestine Following Creeper League.

Inspired by Youth

As much as I try to be consistent with my entries for the Monroe Doctrine, this year has been especially challenging.  The benefit of having active children is that they are active and there is a lot of chasing around to do.  That and having a job that will pay for the effort, but takes time away from writing also bites into trying to be creative.  So I have had to find my moments to be inspired to write.  Last night (or should I say, this morning) I was so inspired.

While the kids were waking up this morning I flipped on the MLB Network to see what I missed last night.  Of the games that were played, I knew that the Nationals beat the Marlins.  Seems Ozzie and Crew are having a hard time finding their feet and establishing their loyal fan base.  But what I didn’t know was how the Nationals beat the Marlins.  Turns out the how was Bryce Harper.  All of 19 years old and he is playing like he is from another planet.

He hit a single to left-center and because he was hustling out of the batter’s box, taking nothing for granted (note to Aramis Ramirez – this is how you play baseball) he took second when the outfielder bobbled the ball.  Then while on second he noticed that the pitcher had not called timeout and the shortstop and thirdbaseman were huddled on the grass between the mound and the base path.  Cool as a cucumber Harper got a walking start and then bolted for third, arriving before Hanley Ramirez could cover and before the pitcher had a chance to throw.  For good measure he made a diving catch running in from centerfield later in the game.

I may never own Harper in our fantasy league (CFCL – coming soon a Facebook page to “like” as the CFCL turns 30 next season) or at least at a price that is affordable.  But I will enjoy watching him.  At 19 he’s already won the respect of the veterans in his clubhouse.  He plays hard and has been named to an All-Star team.  At this point, anyway, he’s a good guy, dedicated and respects the game.  The type of guy you want on your team.  A guy like Jason Heyward.  Solid human being who also happens to be a pretty good baseball player.

And that’s why Ryan Braun will never darken the door of the Rebels clubhouse.  He cheated, he lied and he manipulated the system.  This year he’s putting up phenomenal numbers and I would hope anyone with a brain would understand that there’s a good chance he’s not doing it naturally.  He’s just immune since he beat the system.

Harper may not remain in the current light.  He has had moments that were less than stellar.  While he was in the minors last year he hit a homerun and blew kisses to the pitcher while circling the bases.  When I read that I figured this was another punk player that was believing his press clippings – press clippings that include a feature length article on him while he was fourteen (!).  But then I heard some perspective.  First of all, there was a little backstory to why Harper did what he did, I don’t recall the details.  And then I heard a guy on the radio say that while it wasn’t great behavior, it was the action of an 18 year old.  Think back to when you were 18.  If the worst thing you did was blow kisses to a pitcher after you hit a homerun, well, that’s not so bad.

Got Wood? Not Anymore We Don't

Kerry Wood rode off into the sunset May 18^th, 2012 after one final appearance against the White Sox.  As I watched that appearance, this article wrote itself in my head in about five minutes.  Obviously it’s taken a lot longer to get it from my mind to the keyboard.

I was struck with a lot of emotions that Friday afternoon, watching Kerry jog in from the bullpen for what we all knew was his final appearance.  Apprehension that he have a good outing.  Sadness that this was it.  Slight disappointment that his career didn’t have the Hall of Fame accomplishments it should have.  Pure joy as his threw three straight strikes to appropriately finish his career by striking out Dayan Viciedo.  And then as Kerry walked off the field something else happened that caused me to find some tears welling up.  As he reached the dugout his son came out to give him a hug.  Kerry lifted him in his arms and carried him off the field, eventually sitting next to him on the bench listening to his son talk about something, probably unrelated to the fact that his dad just pitched his final game.

Here’s where I begin the blasphemy with baseball fans.  I made the comment to my cousin that watching that scene with Wood and his son was the most emotional baseball moment since I watched the movie, no – not Field of Dreams but The Rookie.  Yes the Disney movie with Dennis Quaid.   If you’re willing to stick with me on this, I’ll explain.

When we watch movies we usually identify with the main character.  So in Field of Dreams we’re Kevin Costner, in The Rookie we’re Dennis Quaid.  The big scene in Field of Dreams that everyone gets choked up about is “Hey Dad, wanna have a catch?”  Great scene, very touching but it never really hit home for me like it did for others.  Now I know in the movie Costner’s character didn’t have much or any of a relationship with his father, but the thing that most men cling to in that scene is that it either reminded them of playing catch with their dad and making that father/son/baseball connection or wishing they could have one more catch.  I never had that connection/relationship with my dad.  Oh sure, we played catch, usually for about five minutes before he would think of some project he wanted to do around the house.  So while I loved Field of Dreams, the catch at the end of the movie didn’t make me want to play catch, it reminded me of the disappointment of not playing catch.

I watched The Rookie late one night while everyone was asleep.  As it progressed I saw the connection between Quaid and his son.  Having a four year old son of my own, I saw me and Cooper when Quaid had to leave his family to go to the minors.  I saw the heartbreaking phone calls home as he was conflicted with chasing his dream vs. missing his family.  The breaking point for me was when Quaid finally was called up to the majors.  He’s sitting in the ‘pen and looks up to see his family looking down at him.  That’s where it really got me, the pride of the family seeing that he made it and the pride in Quaid for his accomplishment and what it meant to his family, not just financially but also in the lesson to his children that if you set your mind to it, wonderful things can happen.  Cried like a baby watching that scene in the bullpen.

And so when Wood walked off the field into the arms of his son who isn’t much older than Cooper, I identified with Wood and the connection he has with his son.  So it makes sense, the Wood/retiring and The Rookie instead of Field of Dreams connection, right?  Well it does in my mind.

And even though we won’t see number 34 walking out to the mound any longer, we do have lasting images.  Wood pumping his fist as he struck out the 20^th Astro to end the game and then in the on-field postgame interview his hand shaking so bad he couldn’t hold the microphone still. 

Upon the completion of that game, The Professor (proud Owner of the Ruffins who owned Wood in ’98) jumped on the TQS message board and simply typed “Kerry Wood!” to which Head Copperfield responded “Hey look everybody!  Dave’s got Wood!”  The wit in our league runs like molasses.

My final thought on Kerry retiring is:  Should his number be retired?  The moment he walked off the mound against the Sox and in the ensuing days, I emphatically thought “Yes”.  Now that it’s been a few weeks, I still think that retiring Wood’s number would be appropriate.  The Cubs have retired four numbers for five players (Banks – 14; Williams – 26; Santo – 10; Maddux/Jenkins – 31) so it’s obvious they don’t just hand out retired numbers like candy at Halloween.  They also don’t have a policy of retiring a number only for a Hall of Famer.  Now it turns out the five players already honored will be in the Hall (Maddux is a lock) but Maddux and Santo had their number retired before their induction and for Santo his induction was certainly not a sure thing.

Maddux was honored for being a Cub but also more for his entire body of work.  As a Cub (in 10 years) he was 133 and 112, had a 3.61 ERA and a 1.24 WHiP.  He had three really good years including a Cy  Young Award and one post-season appearance before moving to Atlanta and becoming GREG MADDUX.  So honoring him for his entire body of work I will call that the “Something Special Factor”.

            As a comparison, if we look at Maddux vs. Rick Sutcliffe, only their Cub careers, we see come interesting similarities.  Sutcliffe average a 10-8 record for his 8 years with the Cubs, Maddux was 13-11 for his 10 years.  Sutcliffe had three good years as well, one of which was SPECTACULAR (1984), one Cy Young and two post-season appearances.  His ERA was close to Maddux; 3.74 vs. 3.61 and his WHiP wasn’t as good; 1.31 vs. 1.24, but not terribly off either.  As much as I love Sutcliffe and he’s one of my top three all-time starters for as long as I’ve been watching the Cubs, (Wood and Maddux filling out the top 3), I don’t think #40 should be retired for Sutcliffe.  That’s my argument, looking at the numbers, that Maddux benefitted from the “Something Special Factor”.

Banks, Williams and Santo essentially spent their entire career with the Cubs and crafted their Hall of Fame body of work at Wrigley, they didn’t need the Something Special Factor.

Fergie Jenkins had a little of both.  He became FERGUSON JENKINS when he was traded to the Cubs (much like Maddux when he signed with the Braves).  But I doubt he could have made the Hall simply with his Cub numbers, although had he not been traded he might have won the other 117 with the Cubs anyway, but history is he didn’t.  Logically his number is retired as much for the six straight 20 win seasons as it is for the Hall of Fame election.

Kerry Wood will never get to the Hall of Fame aside from whatever memorabilia made it from May 6, 1998.  But he did have May 6, 1998.  He had Game 5 of the NLDS against Atlanta in 2003.  He had numerous injuries that he . . .kept . . . coming. . . back . . .from.  He fought like hell to get back on the field, probably earlier than he should have.  He established himself as a fixture in Chicago with his Wood Foundation.  He stood in front of reporters after Game 7 of the NLCS in ‘03 and lied that he “choked” when two of his teammates had already booked flights to the Dominican Republic the day before.  He came back to Chicago in 2011 for significantly less money so he could come home and do whatever he could to get the Cubs to the post-season.  And if rumors are true, he took a bat to Sosa’s boombox.  For that he deserves a statue.

He had an unfulfilled career based on the promise we all saw in 1998.  But he was a beloved Cub, a committed Chicagoan.  He was, and is, something special and his number should fly from the foul pole forever.