With ESPN airing Kerry Wood‘s iconic 20-strikeout effort recently, Chicago Cubs fans have undoubtedly had their former flamethrowing ace on the brain. For me personally, when I think of Wood, I reflexively recall his former rotation mate Mark Prior, as well.
A pair of first-round picks, Prior and Wood shouldered the expectations and hopes of generations of Cubs fans in the late 1990s and into the new century. The latter, a Texas native, turned in that 20-strikeout start in just his fifth big league outing – immediately offering a glimpse of what may have come to be.