100 Things Cubs Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die Read Online Free PDF Page B

metric created by legendary baseball statistical peoneer Bill James, Wood’s was the most dominant nine-inning game ever pitched. Wood didn’t walk a batter and only allowed two base runners—Gutierrez on his third-inning single and Craig Biggio, who was hit by a pitch in the sixth. Only two Astros even hit the ball out of the infield. Clemens didn’t walk a batter in either of his 20-strikeout games but gave up three and five hits, respectively.
    The final out brought on the look and feel of a no-hitter with Cubs catcher Sandy Martinez, first baseman Mark Grace, and the rest of the team swarming the mound to acknowledge what Wood had just accomplished.
    When you watch that moment it’s not hard to be struck by the look on Wood’s face. There’s an absence of emotion, as if he can’t understand why everyone’s so excited. And that’s because he didn’t know he had broken the record until he did a post game interview.
    “After the first inning I knew I had three, but I lost track after that,” Wood said after the game. “I wasn’t real worried about getting strikeouts. I knew it was getting up there. I was just glad we were able to get a win out of it.”
    More than a win came out of Wrigley Field that day. There was an insatiable amount of joy, not only for what had just happened on the field but for what Cubs fans hoped and imagined was still to come.

    The Forgotten 20-Year-Old
    When Kerry Wood tied the major league record for strikeouts in a game he broke the Cubs’ record of 15, a mark held by Rick Sutcliffe, Burt Hooton, and a name that doesn’t ring as many bells: Dick Drott.
    On May 26, 1957, Drott struck out 15 Milwaukee Braves, including Hank Aaron three times. Like Wood, Drott had a wicked fastball and a big curve that buckled the knees. They also shared the distinction of being 20-year-old rookies when they set their strikeout marks. Wood was making his fifth career start, Drott his seventh.
    The other thing they would have in common was arm trouble. Wood came back from Tommy John surgery in his second season to become an above-average starter for several years before more injuries forced a move to the bullpen.
    Drott’s arm problems also surfaced in his second season following a 15–11 rookie campaign. However, he never really recovered. Drott went 7–11 in 1958 and then missed most of the 1959 season. He returned to go 0–6 in 1960 and 1–4 in 1961, alternating between starting and relieving.
    He was selected by Houston in the 1962 expansion draft and retired after the 1963 season when he went 2–12. Drott passed away in 1985 at the age of 49.

9. The 39-Year Itch Is Scratched
    Everything changed for the Cubs in 1984. And with the exception of a few gut-wrenching games in San Diego, the changes were for the better, at least on the field. The debate over the benefits of Wrigleyville as a national tourist attraction still rages, but this was the season that started it all.
    This was the season the Lovable Losers, who hadn’t made a postseason appearance since 1945, transformed themselves almost overnight to become a phenomenon helped by Harry Caray’s popularity on the WGN superstation, the nationally televised “Sandberg Game,” and a tight race against their 1969 nemesis, the New York Mets.
    This was the season Sandberg started his run to the Hall of Fame, every move Jim Frey and Dallas Green made was golden, and every start that Rick Sutcliffe made—well, almost every—was right on the money.
    This was the season that Steve Goodman’s classic “Go, Cubs, Go” pushed aside “It’s a Beautiful Day for a Ballgame” as the team’s anthem.
    This was the season the 39-year itch was finally, mercifully, scratched.
    The Cubs had lost 91 games the previous year and, with the exception of an 81–81 record in 1977, had suffered along with their fans through their 11 th straight sub-.500 season. Their last postseason appearance was in 1945, and as spring training got underway in 1984,