When Travis Wood was traded from Cincinnati to the Cubs for Sean Marshall, he expected to find an enthusiastic fan base in Chicago. One thing that caught him by surprise, however, was the extent of the personal support.
“I saw a ‘Wood’ jersey go by at the convention and thought it might be personalized,” said Wood. “But then they started popping up everywhere. And signs, too. I haven’t seen so many double-entendres since grade school.”
As a mostly-unproven pitcher with a total of 11 wins in two seasons, Wood says that most of his career, jersey sales have been cousins and people who claim to have eaten at the Arby’s he worked at briefly in 2002.
“I’m touched by the support. Although don’t you think the jerseys are a little presumptuous, considering I haven’t been assigned a number yet and all these jerseys have 34 on them?” said Wood. “Strange fans here in Chicago.”
By Dan Bradley
