Chicago Cubs: The Heroes of Wrigley Series presents Kerry Wood

Chicago Cubs: Turning heads as a budding flamethrower

As Grieve stepped up to the plate, Wood struck him out with a devastating curveball, leaving Grieve, and the crowd, in gross bewilderment.  The scouts were impressed with the movement of Wood’s pitches and also took notice of his velocity that clocked up in the upper 80s.

After transferring to a new high school, Grand Prairie, for his senior year, Wood continued to turn heads, dominating opposing teams.  By year’s end, he possessed a perfect 14-0 record, with a minuscule 0.77 ERA.  He continued to model himself after his Texas heroes and mowed down hitters in the same vein.  In only 81 1/3 innings, Wood struck out an astounding 152 batters, further showcasing his overpowering potential.

Instead of one scout coming to his games to see a rival prospect like Ben Grieve, hundreds of scouts packed the school’s parking lot in order to get a glimpse of Kerry Wood.  One scout in who was frequently in attendance was Al Goldis, a scouting director for the Chicago Cubs.

With his impending graduation just around the corner, Wood had a life-altering decision to make to either attend college to further develop his mechanics or jump straight into professional baseball.  Wood opted to go pro and was drafted by the Cubs with the fourth overall pick in the 1995 MLB draft.