Kerry Wood, the Cleveland Indians new closer is a stike out pitcher.
Hitters can’t settle in at the plate against this guy, he has 1407 strike outs in only about 1219 innings pitched! I am really excited about Kerry joining the Tribe and giving Eric Wedge the ability to manage the bull pen and the rest of the Club to a championship season in 2009.
My baseball perspective: I have watched and listened to more baseball games in the past 20 plus years then a lot of other fans I know, except my Grandfather. It might sound like bragging, or a claim that I could not prove, but it’s not. I just feel that if I am going to give you my opinion, I owe you an explanation for how I gained my understanding of the game. Over time I have read dozens of baseball books on theory, history and strategy, I will often revisit the Ken Burns documentary on the sport and I have spent hours inside The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Over the years I have been lucky enough to have collected 16 foul balls that I either caught in the upper deck of Cleveland Municipal Stadium or had bounce my way while sitting with the ground crew. Dave Fry, the person in-charge of the ground crew at the old stadium saw my Grandfather at so many games, we had an open invitation (as fans) to sit with the ground crew. This unique perspective in combination with the amount of games watched has helped me to understand the nuances of baseball. Oh..and I am still learning!
