5 fan favorites who aren’t in the Cubs Hall of Fame but need to be

Kerry Wood brought the heat from the mound on the North Side for a decade

For those lucky enough to have watched Kerry Wood pitch in a Cubs uniform, the guy was pure Texas heat from the rubber. He brought the propane gas to the mound every fifth day with more enthusiasm than Hank Hill did repping Stickland Propane in Arlen. While Wood had arm issues throughout most of his career, he was the 1998 NL Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star.

For one hot minute there, we thought we were watching the second coming of Nolan Ryan on the mound. The man could mow down some hitters, striking out over 200 hitter four times in six years. He led the league in punch outs with a ridiculous 266. Yeah, he would hit a dude from time to time, but that was just part of his charm. He let it rip more regularly than Jay Cutler ever did.

2003 was not only his best year in the big leagues, but it was also the one that got away. Wood co-headlined that absolutely filthy rotation with Mark Prior and a young Carlos Zambrano, who we will get to in a bit. That squad was five outs away from beating a team that has never won its division before to get back to the World Series. In Wood had a ring, he would have a plaque now.

Frankly, anybody who was freaking awesome on that 2003 team should be inducted already as is.