Wood chip: Justin Wood, Kerry’s son, drawing father back into baseball at New Trier
New Trier assistant coach Kerry Wood and son Justin look on before a game against Brother Rice.
Kirsten Stickney/Sun-Times
To Cubs fans all over the Chicago area and beyond, Kerry Wood is an icon, still revered years after he retired.
Forgive Justin Wood, a rising senior pitcher for New Trier, if he sees the Cubs legend in a different light.
“You know, in my everyday life, I forget a lot,” Justin Wood said. “I definitely take it for granted more than I should. . . . I mean, he’s just always been my dad.”
Kerry Wood also has been his son’s coach through youth ball, and lately he has been back in uniform as a New Trier assistant. In fact, Justin wears No. 32, the same as Kerry, embracing the connection to his famous dad.
“He’s never really pressured me to do anything that I don’t want to do,” Justin said. “I mean, the name has its ups and downs. I definitely get chirped [at] more than most. But it’s a great name to have on the back of my jersey.”
Said Kerry: “Expectations are what other people put on you, right? We’ve had this conversation with him for a few years now. It’s like, ‘Listen, my journey’s over. I’ve done it. I played high school, I did my run in the major leagues and pro ball. So this is your high school journey. This is your summer league journey. This is your 16-to-18-year-old journey. Have fun with it.’ ”
That said, getting back in the game with the Trevians has been fun for Kerry, too.
“Yeah, I didn’t know if I was gonna be in a uniform again,” he said. “And then I started helping out here. . . . It’s been nice to be in the dugout again and get that feel of being part of a group. So it’s been great.”
Justin came up to the varsity level as a sophomore in 2022 and played a more prominent role for this year’s team, which finished 30-8 and third in Class 4A. He went 6-2 with a 2.59 ERA over 46 innings, striking out 54, walking 23 and allowing 38 hits.
The credit for those numbers goes to his dad, Justin said.
“He taught me everything I know,” he said. “I have some of the genes in there and the height [6-5], but I could not have done it without him.”
As much as Justin has appreciated being able to tap into Kerry’s considerable baseball knowledge, so has Kerry appreciated being along for the ride — not just with his son but with his son’s buddies.
“I’ve worked with a lot of these guys since they were 12, 13, 14 years old,” Kerry said. “So to see these guys grow into young men and really under-stand the game more and start to see their hard work pay off — it’s been great.”
New Trier coach Mike Napoleon, who became the all-time winningest baseball coach in Illinois history this spring, knows how lucky the Trevians are to have the elder Wood around.
“It’s something special,” Napoleon said. “I tell our [other assistant] coaches that, and our players. They don’t take him for granted, either.”