The lonesome shirt will hang—in my closet,
collecting dust. Why must it stay, you ask,
banished from my shoulders? It was once in
the starting rotation—of my shirts as well as
the Cubs pitching staff. The shirt reads
“WE GOT WOOD” an homage to former
Cubs star Kerry Wood. He earned that shirt
with his performance in the 2003 playoffs.
However, my former star shirt shall no longer be allowed
in Chicago, because the star of the shirt is no longer
there. Wood has moved on to Cleveland
because Jim Hendry decided
we no longer need him. Sure, I could wear
this shirt, but then I’d be like every other so-so fan,
who doesn’t really pay attention to the team,
who thinks any Cubs shirt will do,
who is too lazy to get a new Cubs shirt. The real
Cubs fans notice these things. So I will miss my
time with my Kerry Wood shirt. I will miss it soaking
up my sweat at soccer practices. I will miss wearing
it to games and getting asked about it. I will even miss
the perverted jokes it used to inspire… But someday,
maybe—when there is a new Cubs GM
who can admit his mistakes—I can bring it back
into my rotation, but probably to close out the week.
Maybe it will be seen in Chicago again someday.
Most likely though, I will have to wait, wait until
he retires and is remembered as a Cub. Look at TV
shows and movies, nothing stays dead and buried
for very long.