Wood warms up, but no call
Bob Howry might never get as big of an ovation again.
Cubs fans cheered wildly when Howry walked in from the bullpen to start the eighth inning of a 2-2 game.
Had the Wrigley faithful suddenly found a new appreciation for their setup man?
Or did they have trouble seeing the "62" and "Howry" on the back of the jersey, instead mistaking it for "34" and "Wood?"
It's pretty easy to see Cubs fans are as excited about Wood's return as the 30-year-old is to be back.
As expected, the Cubs activated Kerry Wood from the 60-day disabled list before the game. Manager Lou Piniella said he wouldn't hesitate to use him, and sure enough there was Wood warming up in the bottom of the seventh with the Cubs losing 2-1.
That drew chants of "Kerr-y, Kerr-y" from the crowd. But once the Cubs tied the game, Piniella brought in Howry to work the eighth.
"I want to give him one soft landing before we throw him out there," Piniella said. "It might be we can't."
Wood received cheers wherever he went Friday, first down the left-field line and left-field bleachers when he took the field before the game. He later caught the first pitch from Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder and gave the singer a hug.
"High strike," Wood said of Vedder's pitch.
With Wood activated, the Cubs now have three on their roster from the team's last NL Central championship in 2003: Wood, Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramirez.
In another move, Angel Guzman was transferred from the 15-day to 60-day disabled list.
Been there, done that: Several Cubs watched highlights of Brewers manager Ned Yost and catcher Johnny Estrada's altercation on TV before the game. Of course, the Cubs had their own fireworks in June between Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett.
"You hate to see those situations, but they do happen," outfielder Cliff Floyd said. "We went off after (the Zambrano-Barrett fight). You don't expect those things to happen, but we've really picked it up since then."
Hey, four eyes: Sean Marshall sported a pair of glasses in the Cubs' clubhouse. The left-hander is letting his right eye rest for a few days after his contact caused a scratched cornea that became infected.
"Now I've got to wear these nerdy glasses a couple days," Marshall said.
Marshall said his contacts had been a little worn out for a couple days, then he scratched his right cornea while taking them out Wednesday night. He put drops in his eye before the game Thursday and insisted his eye was fine, despite giving up 7 runs in 2ˆ¿ innings.
"I just didn't pitch like I should have, like I have been," Marshall said.
Around the horn: Carlos Zambrano used a computer videocast with his mother before the game to give her a chance to see his newly dyed blond hair. ... Zambrano had 3 hits in his last game and entered Friday hitting .291, but Piniella said he wouldn't consider moving his pitcher ahead of any struggling hitters in the batting order. "I think that would be embarrassing for a position player to hit behind a pitcher," Piniella said. "I wouldn't do that."