Kerry Wood retires after 13year career

Kerry Wood came onto the scene in a unique way with the Chicago Cubs. He's going to leave in his own way as well.

Wood, according to reports, will pitch against the Chicago White Sox in his 446th game this weekend and then is expected to retire, ending a 13-year career that began with incredible promise, was derailed by injuries and was re-invented as a reliever.

At age 21 in 1998, Wood became the second pitcher to have 20 strikeouts in a game, joining Roger Clemens. Randy Johnson made it a trio in 2001.

Clemens and Johnson had won Cy Young Awards when they whiffed 20 in a game. Wood did it in his fifth big-league start.

Wood, who turns 35 next month, is 0-2 with n 8.64 ERA this season. He's pitched almost his entire career with the Cubs, aside from a season-and-a-half for the Cleveland Indians in 2009 and 2010 and a half-season with the Yankees in 2010.

Update: Wood pitched on Friday and, fittingly, struck out the last (and only) batter he faced before retiring. He said it became his favorite memory in baseball.

Saud Wood in an interview Saturday: "My favorite memory and probably the best memory in the 14 years was yesterday (Friday), walking off the field and having (son) Justin run out and meet me ... You can't beat that ... I knew maybe he might be in the dugout but I did not expect him to run out and hug me and he didn't want to let go. You can't put anything above that."