Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters in just 9 innings, a National League record and a remarkable fact when one considers that there are only 27 outs per side in a baseball game, plus it rarely happens that a single pitcher pitches an entire game nowadays.
The only hit against him was not really a hit; the ball never left the infield and bounced off the third baseman’s glove. The official scorekeeper marked it as a hit, for reasons best known only to himself.
Only twice in the game did the ball even leave the infield, and both times they were caught for outs.
So many baseball records are flukes, caused not by the players playing well but by accidents, coincidences or by the opponents playing badly.
However, this was obviously no fluke. History tells us that athletes who show great promise at an early age usually go far. The name of Kerry Wood is likely to be featured prominently in the sporting news for years to come.