Kerry Wood Biography

Kerry Lee Wood, born on June 16, 1977, has played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees. As a 20-year-old rookie, Wood struck out 20 batters in a one-hit shutout against the Houston Astros. He shares the MLB record for most strikeouts in a game with 20, a feat that earned him the nickname Kid K. Wood recorded over 200 strikeouts in four of his first five seasons, with a career high of 266 in 2003. He was placed on the disabled list 14 times across his 14 major league seasons, including missing the entire 1999 season due to Tommy John surgery. After a slow start to the 2012 season, Wood retired on May 18, 2012. In 1997, Baseball America ranked him as the third best player in baseball, behind only Andruw Jones and Vladimir Guerrero.