| | ESPN.com
Sammy Sosa hits home runs. Sammy Sosa blows kisses. Sammy Sosa sells tickets.
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CUBS LOWDOWN |
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|  | | Kerry Wood is aiming for a June return. |
1999: 67-95
Runs: 747, 13th in NL
Allowed: 920, 15th in NL
Key facts
Cubs had second-worst record in NL -- and the third-oldest team.
How much did they miss Kerry Wood? Staff finished with 980 strikeouts, lowest total in league.
With 107 runs scored, Mark Grace topped the century mark in runs or RBI for the first time in his career.
Tim Kurkjian's scenarios
Best-case: Kerry Wood comes back in early June and revitilizes the staff and the team.
Worst-case: Wood rushes himself back and re-injures his arm.
Prediction: 4th in NL Central
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Yet Kerry Wood is the critical key to his team's future success.
For the Cubs, it's that simple and that serious.
With Wood in 1998, Chicago was a playoff team. Without him in 1999, they were a last-place team. At this point, nobody knows when Wood will be back in
the Cubs' rotation. He pitched in a game a little more than a week ago for the first time since the 1998 postseason.
The exhibition against the White Sox was a critical first step to getting him back. He threw three changeups and 12 fastballs, some of which were
clocked at 97 mph. That had to be a beautiful sight for manager Don Baylor and general manager Ed Lynch, but they still plan to proceed with caution with their prized 22-year-old pitcher.
"We are going to be conservative," Lynch promised. "The long-term interests of Kerry are No. 1 because it is also the long-term interest of the
club for him to have a long and productive career."
Some people already have been critical of the Cubs' timetable with Wood. Many pitchers need 18 months to return from ligament transplant surgery on
their elbow. Dr. James Andrews performed that surgery on Wood last April 8 and the Cubs hope to have him back long before August.
Not surprisingly, Wood is pushing the timetable himself. After the team left for Tokyo and its two-game, season-opening series with the Mets, the Cubs
wanted Wood to pitch in a simulated game. Having already tasted live competition, he wanted more and got his wish by pitching in a minor-league
game instead.
After witnessing what Wood did as a rookie in 1998, we should all hope his comeback is swift and successful. His explosive fastball and biting
curveball made him the most entertaining young pitcher since Dwight Gooden
burst onto the scene with the Mets. It would be a shame if Wood became the next Mark Fidrych.
There is really no reason for the Cubs to rush Wood. They were already off to a bad start before they played a game. Ismael Valdes was supposed to start the first game against the Mets, but instead landed on the disabled list with shoulder stiffness. That was one of an assortment of injuries the team encountered in spring training.
This is not going to be the Cubs' year. But with Kerry Wood as a healthy, dominating staff ace, they might have some exciting years ahead.
-- Bob Brookover
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Lineup comments and grades from ESPN The Magazine
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Player
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Comment
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Grade
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Eric Young, 2B
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Last Cub to steal 40 bags in a year was Ryne Sandberg (54) in 1985
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C
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Joe Girardi, C
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Leader, calls great game, hits RHs better than LHs. But in two hole?!
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C
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Sammy Sosa, RF
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Don Baylor expects him to run bases better, play RF better -- and hit tubs of HRs
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A
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Mark Grace, 1B
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Led '90s in doubles. Every other decade's leader (except Pete) is in Hall
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B
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H. Rodriguez, LF
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Hitting LHs better. But Glenallen Hill finally understands hitting, will get ABs
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B
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S. Andrews, 3B
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Homered last year off Shane Reynolds: First-ever Shane to take a Shane deep
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C
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D. Buford, CF
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Fine defensive OF, but he's 29 and has yet to have a 100-hit season
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D
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R. Gutierrez, SS
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Maddeningly erratic. Makes a terrific play one minute, then botches a cookie
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D
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Pitching comments and grades from ESPN The Magazine
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Pitcher
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Comment
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Grade
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I., Valdes, SP
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Dodgers questioned his courage. Nobody doubts his arm or stuff
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B
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Jon Lieber, SP
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Slider locks up righty batters, but lefties lock in on the rest
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C
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K. Tapani, SP
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Good spring. Back is fine. Looks a little like Jerry Seinfeld. Pitches a lot better
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C
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K. Farnsworth, SP
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Throws in mid-90s with running action. Raw, but high ceiling
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C
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M. Karchner, RP
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Messrs. Heredia, Guthrie, Myers, Williams precede him when wind's blowing out
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C
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R. Aguilera, RP
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Needs 11 saves for 300, 22 games for 700, 8 K's for 1,000
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C
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