Good morning, it’s Saturday, May 19, the 140th day of 2012. There are 226 days left in the year. Temperatures will be in the 60s at the start of the day, but should rise into the upper 80s this afternoon under a sunny sky. Wind gusts as high as 30 miles per hour are possible. Lows overnight will again be in the 60s.

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On May 19, 1836—176 years ago today–Comanche raiders attacked Fort Parker, killed three members of the Parker family and two other men, and abducted two women and three children, one of them a little girl named Cynthia Ann, who wasn’t found for 24 years, by which time she had adapted to Comanche life. Her rescue turned her oldest son, Quanah Parker, into the scourge of Texas settlers. Later he embraced white culture and became perhaps the wealthiest American Indian of his day in the U.S. His mother, however, never readapted to life with her family and eventually starved herself to death.

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Today’s Highlight in Local History:On May 19, 1997, a Speegleville teenager was rescued after spending 26 hours trapped in a car that had gone off the road and into a creek bed.

Today’s Highlight in History:On May 19, 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe sang a sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday to You” to guest-of-honor President John F. Kennedy during a star-studded Democratic fundraiser at New York’s Madison Square Garden (the third of four arenas to bear that name).

On This Date:In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England’s King Henry VIII, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery.In 1780, a mysterious darkness enveloped much of New England and part of Canada in the early afternoon.In 1909, the Ballets Russes (Russian Ballets), under the direction of Sergei Diaghilev, debuted in Paris.In 1921, Congress passed, and President Warren G. Harding signed, the Emergency Quota Act, which established national quotas for immigrants.In 1935, T.E. Lawrence, also known as “Lawrence of Arabia,” died in Dorset, England, six days after being injured in a motorcycle crash.In 1943, in an address to the U.S. Congress, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill pledged his country’s full support in the fight against Japan.In 1964, the State Department disclosed that 40 hidden microphones had been found in the U.S. embassy in Moscow.In 1967, the Soviet Union ratified a treaty with the United States and Britain banning nuclear and other weapons from outer space as well as celestial bodies such as the moon. (The treaty entered into force in October 1967.)In 1971, poet Ogden Nash, known for his humorous light verses, died in Baltimore at age 68.In 1981, an Irish Republican Army landmine in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, killed five British soldiers.In 1992, in a case that drew much notoriety, Mary Jo Buttafuoco of Massapequa, N.Y., was shot and seriously wounded by her husband Joey’s teenage lover, Amy Fisher. Vice President Dan Quayle sparked controversy by criticizing the CBS sitcom “Murphy Brown” for having its title character, played by Candice Bergen, decide to have a child out of wedlock.In 1994, former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died in New York at age 64.

Ten years ago:Boston Cardinal Bernard Law said in a letter distributed to parishes that he did not become aware until 1993 of sexual abuse allegations against the Rev. Paul Shanley. (Immediately afterward, Law said Shanley’s authorization to serve as a priest was rescinded.) Walter Lord, author of “A Night To Remember,” a minute-by-minute retelling of the Titanic disaster, died in New York at age 84.

Five years ago:Group of Eight financial officials wrapped up two days of talks in Germany by calling for more aid, increased debt relief and responsible lending to Africa. Curlin nipped Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense to win the Preakness Stakes.

One year ago:President Barack Obama for the first time endorsed the Palestinians’ demand that their eventual state be based on borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war, a position that put him sharply at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Former Irish Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald, 85, died in Dublin. Katie Couric, the first regular solo anchorwoman of a network evening newscast, signed off the “CBS Evening News” for the last time after five years.

Today’s Birthdays:PBS newscaster Jim Lehrer is 78. TV personality David Hartman is 77. Actor James Fox is 73. Actress Nancy Kwan is 73. Author-director Nora Ephron is 71. Actor Peter Mayhew is 68. Rock singer-composer Pete Townshend (The Who) is 67. Concert pianist David Helfgott is 65. Rock singer-musician Dusty Hill (ZZ Top) is 63. Singer-actress Grace Jones is 60. Rock musician Phil Rudd (AC-DC) is 58. Actor Steven Ford is 56. Rock musician Iain Harvie (Del Amitri) is 50. Actor Jason Gray-Stanford is 42. Rock singer Jenny Berggren (Ace of Base) is 40. Actor Drew Fuller is 32. Christian rock musician Tim McTague is 29. Actor Eric Lloyd is 26.

Thought for Today:”Every moment one lives is different from the other. The good, the bad, hardship, the joy, the tragedy, love, and happiness are all interwoven into one single, indescribable whole that is called life. You cannot separate the good from the bad. And perhaps there is no need to do so, either.” – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994).

Goodmorning – Google News

A mí me cae muy simpático este cardenal. Que nació el mismo día y mes que yo, el 7 de mayo, pero veintitrés años antes. Tiene hoy 95 años y es el tercer cardenal más anciano de la S.R.I.

Simpático, deslenguado, irrespetuoso, de firmes convicciones… llama al pan, pan y al vino, vino y se queda tan fresco. Yo, cuando sea mayor, quiero ser como el cardenal Bartolucci.

Acabo de leer unas declaraciones suyas, lamento que estén en portugués, o brasileño, que son… Bartolucci. Frescas, punzantes, inteligentes… Qué acierto el de Benedicto XVI en darnos ese cardenal. La Iglesia sin esa creación, salvo expertos musicales, no le habría conocido. Me da la impresión de que está feliz con la púrpura. Reconocimiento cuasi póstumo de su amor y su entrega a la Iglesia. Y un músico, un gran músico es lo que ha sido, aterrado de otras músicas nada celestiales y que padeció por ello, hoy se siente cardenal. Y presta ese servicio mucho más allá de la música. Qué Dios se lo pague.

http://fratresinunum.com/2012/05/17/bartolucci-95-anos/

P.D.: Pablo Pomar nos hace llegar, ahora en italiano, las declaraciones de Bartolucci. Lo del circo debe estar en otras. Gracias:

http://www.scholacantorumdecomillas.es/DOCUS/DOCUSACTUAL/bartolicci.htm

Lo del Vexilla regis es de antología.

Viernes con "V" de Ven – Google News

Almost 20 years after she graced the magazine in 1993, Jenny McCarthy will pose for Playboy once again. The actress, author and autism activist will appear on the cover and nude in a pictorial for the July-August issue of Playboy, just months before her 40th birthday in November.» Read more at E! News.

Director Ridley Scott and original writer Hampton Fancher have confirmed they’re working on a “Blade Runner 2″ movie. The 1982 sci-fi film, based on Phillip K. Dick’s story “Do Androids Dream of Sleep?,” starred Harrison Ford as a “blade runner” who hunts down artificial human “replicants.” Though it’s not clear if Ford will do the sequel, studio Alcon Entertainment did say it will be set “some years after the first film concluded.”» Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.

Beauty pageant participants are complaining that the first transgender Miss Universe contestant is stealing the show. Vancouver blonde Jenna Talackova, who was born a male and underwent a sex change operation four years ago, drew a lot of attention when she was disqualified and then reinstated by Donald Trump. The transgender beauty stunned in both the evening gown and bikini swimsuit competitions at Miss Universe Canada’s preliminary round. The 2012 winner, selected from 62 potential beauty queens, will be crowned Saturday with a gala streamed online.» See more photos of Talackova at BuzzFeed and read more at the Winnipeg Free Press.

Rumors are flying that Van Halen and Diamond Dave aren’t getting along again after the band postponed 31 summer concerts, including a July 17 stop at Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena. A source says “they’re simply burned out” and need time to “re-charge their engines” before rescheduling the shows. The source also denied any feuds were happening between guitarist Eddie Van Halen and singer David Lee Roth.» Read more at TMZ.

We have a new viral video that’s in the running for “best father-daughter dance medley ever.” Jessica and her Dad, comedian Mike Hanley, surprise the Bat Mitzvah crowd during a dance routine ranging from “Grease” and Jackson 5 to Lady Gaga and Flo Rida.

More Buzz:» Alec Baldwin’s stalker emails show she tried to befriend Hilaria Thomas (NY Daily News)» Jennifer Lopez says she hasn’t decided if she’s staying or leaving “Idol” (Rolling Stone)» Courtney Stodden dresses as Hello Kitty, acts like a cat in scary detail (BuzzFeed)» Former WWE superstar Chyna collapses at porn convention in Miami (TMZ)» Brad Womack says he “dodged a bullet” with “Bachelorette” Emily Maynard (Daily Mail)» New ‘Magic Mike’ trailer shows more moves, skin from male strippers (Entertainment Weekly)» Listen: Sara Bareilles’ Ben Folds-produced album ‘Once Upon Another Time’ (Rolling Stone)» Ben Folds Five is back and happy underground with new album coming (BuzzFeed)» Rep says Bobby Brown’s new song “Don’t Let Me Die” is not about Whitney Houston (E!)» “Glee” stars Lea Michele and Cory Monteith kiss in big-time PDA at hockey game (Daily Mail)» Mila Kunis stalker to face more charges in L.A. court (Los Angeles Times)» Another accuser, New York masseur says John Travolta groped him (NY Daily News)» Jane Fonda added to ‘Better Living Through Chemistry’ cast (Indie Wire)» Kim Kardashian selling old clothes on eBay, including designer dresses (Shine)» “Wonder Years” actress Danica McKellar looks better than ever as 37-year-old mom (Daily Mail)» Raven-Symone address rumors she’s a lesbian dating ‘Top Model’ contestant (BuzzFeed)

Daily Buzz is a new feature on syracuse.com where we’ll post the latest in viral videos, trending topics, celebrity gossip and entertainment news.

will smith slaps reporter – Google News

Max Frigione / AP

Notebooks are seen scattered at the site where an explosive device went off near the Francesca Morvillo Falcone High School in Brindisi, Italy, Saturday.

By NBC News and msnbc.com news services

Updated at 9.10 a.m ET: An explosion at a school in Italy Saturday killed a teenage girl and injured several others, according to reports and officials.

The blast happened at 7:45 a.m. at a school in Brindisi as students were waiting to go inside, NBC News reported.

The high school, which is opposite a court in the city, is named after the slain anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone and his wife, Francesca Morvillo, a judge who was also killed in the 1992 bombing in Sicily by Cosa Nostra. 

One of the wounded students, a girl who was walking alongside the victim outside the school in Brindisi, was reported in critical condition after surgery.

Officials said at least seven students were injured, but some news reports put the figure at 10. 

Brindisi’s Perrino hospital, where the wounded were taken, declined to give out information by phone. 

Dr. Paola Ciannamea, a Perrino physician who helped treat the injured at the hospital, told reporters there that one of the injured was a teenage girl who was in grave but stable condition after surgery.

She added that plastic surgery was still being performed on some of the other injured, who suffered burns in the blast. 

No claim of responsibilityAn unidentified hospital official, briefing reporters there, said the critically injured student was in stable condition after surgery and that several of the injured students had suffered burns and is undergoing plastic surgery. 

There were no immediate claims of responsibility. 

Italy has been marking the 20th anniversary of the Sicilian highway attack, but it was unclear if there was an organized crime link to Saturday’s explosion. 

In Brindisi, local civil protection agency official Fabiano Amati said a female student died of her wounds after being taken to a hospital and at least seven other students were hospitalized. 

Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri, in charge of domestic security, said she was “struck” by the fact that the school was named after the slain hero and his wife, but she cautioned that investigators at that point “have no elements” to blame the school attack on organized crime. 

“It’s not the usual (method) for the Mafia,” she told Sky television in a phone interview. The Sicilian-based Cosa Nostra usually targets specific figures, such as judges, prosecutors, turncoats or rival mobsters in attacks, and not civilian targets such as schools. 

“The big problem now is to get intelligence” on the attack, said Cancellieri. She added that she had spoken by phone with Italian Premier Mario Monti, in the United States for the G-8 summit. 

Outside the school, textbooks, their pages flipping in a breeze, notebooks and a backpack littered the street near where the bomb exploded. At the sound of the blast, students already inside the building ran outside of the school to see what happened. 

Officials initially said the device was in a trash bin outside the Morvillo-Falcone school, but later the ANSA news agency, reporting from Brindisi, said the device, consisting of three cooking-gas canisters, a detonator and possibly a timer, had been placed on a low wall ringing the school. The wall was damaged and charred from the blast. 

Public high schools in Italy hold classes on Saturday mornings. 

Specializes in fashion, social servicesA school official, Valeria Vitale, told Sky that most of the pupils were girls. The school specializes in training for jobs in fashion and social services, she said. 

The bombing also follows a number of attacks against Italian officials and government or public buildings by a group of anarchists, which prompted authorities to assign bodyguards for 550 individuals and deploy 16,000 law enforcement officers nationwide. 

Minister Cancellieri indicated that after the school blast, authorities’ sense of what could be a possible target had been tested. 

“Anything now could be a ‘sensitive’ target,” she said. 

Austerity measures, spending cuts and new and higher taxes, all part of economist Monti’s plan to save Italy from succumbing to the debt crisis roiling Greece, have angered many citizens, and social tensions have ratcheted up. 

“The economic crisis doesn’t help,” Cancellieri said, referring to the tensions. 

Brindisi is a lively port town in Puglia, the region in the southeastern “heel” of the Italian boot-shaped peninsula. An organized crime syndicate known as the Sacred United Crown, has been traditionally active there, but crackdowns have been widely considered by authorities to have lessened the organization’s power in the region.

The Associated Press and NBC News’ Claudio Lavanga contributed to this report.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

brindisi – Google News

By Misha Japaridze, AP

Will Smith was promoting ‘Men in Black III’ when a reporter tried to kiss him in Moscow.

The reporter from the Ukrainian television channel 1+1 approached Smith on the red carpet, put his hand on the actor’s shoulder and tried to kiss him.

Smith pushed him away and then slapped him lightly across the cheek with the back of his left hand.

It was not clear whether reporter Vitalii Sediuk intended to kiss Smith on the cheek or on the lips.

In any case, Smith appeared shocked by the journalist’s behavior at Friday night’s premiere in the Russian capital.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ’s. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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will smith slaps reporter – Google News

Todos dicen estar convencidos de ello o, como comenta alguno, “muy seguros”. Los jugadores del Cáceres Patrimonio se ven ahora con las fuerzas y optimismo suficientes como para superar con éxito el escollo del próximo viernes en Logroño, en el cara o cruz ante el Knet Rioja y cuyo resultado derivará en una continuación para los playoffs de ascenso a la ACB o el final de la temporada.

La palabra victoria es una constante en el obligado test entre la plantilla del club extremeño de la LEB Oro, realizado en este caso antes del inicio del entrenamiento de ayer tarde. Ni uno solo se manifiesta abiertamente en su pronóstico en negativo, lo que por supuesto se apartaría de la más pura lógica para un encuentro que marcará o no el final de esta extraña temporada, en función del resultado que señale el electrónico.

También son coincidentes los jugadores del Cáceres en su valoración de que parar al base Witt será una de las principales claves para conseguir el triunfo.

Los sondeados en esta información así lo demuestran e insisten, pero al mismo tiempo se pone el acento en que el equipo de Aranzana logrará su objetivo no en función del rival, sino de qué puede hacer él mismo.

“Meter un punto más”. Quizá la respuesta más obvia la haya dado Leon Williams. El pívot estadounidense viene a decir que aquí ya no valen más consideraciones que esa, la de superar al rival aunque sea por una sola canasta. Es lo que realmente importa en el global.

Después, que se pare o no al talentoso base estadounidense del Rioja, que se domine el rebote o que se esté acertado en el lanzamiento exterior o en los libres marcarán el devenir de un encuentro que señalará un antes y un después para el club cacereño, en el que no hay novedades en lo físico más allá de las clásicas molestias de final de temporada.

Viernes con "V" de Ven – Google News

Will Smith gave a backhanded slap to a Ukranian reporter Friday after the man planted a surprise smooch near the actor’s lips at the “Men in Black 3″ premier in Moscow, TMZ.com reported.

“Come on man. What the hell is your problem buddy?” Smith snapped when the back-patting hug turned into a kamikaze kiss attack.

After a forceful shove, the “Ali” star ended the encounter with his left hand smacking the young man’s cheek.

“Sorry. He kissed me on my mouth,” Smith said as he continued down the red carpet with cameras rolling.

“The joker is lucky I didn’t sucker punch him,” he quipped.

“I’m so sorry,” one of his shocked female handlers said.

“No, no. It’s all good,” Smith said with a laugh as he moved on to the next interview.

The reporter – looking like a wannabe wiseguy in a black shirt, white tie and white suit – slinked away without comment and stood behind a camera.

He’s a TV personality who often kisses celebrities as part of his shtick, according to TMZ.

The incident follows just days after Smith said he agrees with President Obama’s support of gay marriage.

“If anybody can find someone to love them and to help them through this difficult thing that we call life, I support that in any shape or form,” he told reporters in Berlin on Monday.

ndillon@nydailynews.com

will smith slaps reporter – Google News

While arriving to the premiere of “Men in Black 3″ in Moscow on Friday, Will slapped a reporter who, first, hugged him and then tried to kiss him.

PLAY IT NOW: Will Smith Is Back In ‘Black’

In the footage of the incident, obtained by TMZ, the “MiB” star is smiling on the red carpet and allows the reporter to hug him, before the young reporter – who is reportedly Ukrainian – tries to kiss Will on the face.

The star then pushes the reporter away and backhand slaps him on the cheek.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: From ‘Fresh Prince’ To ‘Big Willie’ — Hot Shots Of Will Smith

“Come on, man. What the hell is your problem, buddy?” a stunned Will exclaims.

Will quickly brushes off the incident and continues to make his way down the red carpet with a smile, where he addressed the incident with the next reporter on the red carpet.

“He tried to kiss me on my mouth! He’s lucky I didn’t sucker punch him,” Will is heard saying.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Big Screen Gentlemen: Hollywood’s Leading Men

According to TMZ, the reporter often tries to kiss stars as his “shtick.”

CLICK HERE to see the footage of the incident!

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Breaking The Bank: The Box Office’s Billion Dollar Movies!

– Eric Anderson

Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

will smith slaps reporter – Yahoo! News Search Results

While arriving to the premiere of “Men in Black 3″ in Moscow on Friday, Will slapped a reporter who, first, hugged him and then tried to kiss him.

PLAY IT NOW: Will Smith Is Back In ‘Black’

In the footage of the incident, obtained by TMZ, the “MiB” star is smiling on the red carpet and allows the reporter to hug him, before the young reporter – who is reportedly Ukrainian – tries to kiss Will on the face.

The star then pushes the reporter away and backhand slaps him on the cheek.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: From ‘Fresh Prince’ To ‘Big Willie’ — Hot Shots Of Will Smith

“Come on, man. What the hell is your problem, buddy?” a stunned Will exclaims.

Will quickly brushes off the incident and continues to make his way down the red carpet with a smile, where he addressed the incident with the next reporter on the red carpet.

“He tried to kiss me on my mouth! He’s lucky I didn’t sucker punch him,” Will is heard saying.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Big Screen Gentlemen: Hollywood’s Leading Men

According to TMZ, the reporter often tries to kiss stars as his “shtick.”

CLICK HERE to see the footage of the incident!

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Breaking The Bank: The Box Office’s Billion Dollar Movies!

– Eric Anderson

Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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will smith slaps reporter – Yahoo! News Search Results

On Friday, he left the game after one final, emotional appearance with the Chicago Cubs.

Fittingly, “Kid K” struck out the last batter he’ll ever face and retired at the age of 34, ending a career that was eye-popping at times but hampered by injuries.

“I had a blast. I wouldn’t trade it in, I learned from the injuries, I learned about my body and what it takes to compete and go out and play every day,” Wood said Friday after his final game, a 3-2 loss to the White Sox.

“Mentally and physically we get to this point,” Wood said. “Every player gets to this point where we don’t all get to choose when, we don’t all get to have a say in it. But I was fortunate enough to play this game a long time in a great city in front of the best fans in baseball. … It was time.”

Wood struck out Dayan Viciedo on three pitches, the last one a swing and a miss, in the eighth inning before he was replaced as bench coach Jamie Quirk came to take him out since manager Dale Sveum had been ejected earlier. His teammates joined him on the mound to congratulate him and he left to a rousing ovation. Even White Sox slugger Adam Dunn doffed his batting helmet and clapped for Wood as he stood at first base.

Wood hugged his son as he reached the dugout, then lifted the boy into his arms. Moments later, he came out for a curtain call and waved his cap to the fans.

“I felt like I was getting ready to pitch my first inning. The adrenaline was the same, the nerves were the same. I can’t give enough credit to the fans, just a tremendous feeling,” Wood said.

Wood went on the disabled list earlier this season with shoulder fatigue — he was on the DL more than a dozen times over his career — and had struggled all year. His frustrations were evident when, after a bad outing against the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field, he tossed his cap and glove into the stands.

“My body wasn’t bouncing back this year. I felt like I was putting guys in the ‘pen in situations they didn’t need to be in. I definitely didn’t want to go out with my last inning being me throwing my glove in the seats,” Wood said. “I wanted to put up a zero or at least get one guy out.”

One of his best friends, starter Ryan Dempster, said he would really miss Wood’s presence in the clubhouse

“It will be tough not seeing him out there pitching,” he said as Wood was shagging fly balls with his son before the game. “He’s been a great friend and a great teammate and a great Chicago Cub.”

Coming into the year, Wood was 86-73 with a 3.64 ERA and 63 saves. He left the Cubs as a free agent in December 2008, signing with the Cleveland Indians for two years and .5 million. He was traded to the Yankees in July 2010, becoming Mariano Rivera’s setup man, but he remained loyal to Chicago.

“Most every day he went out there, especially before he had the arm surgery, he had no-hit stuff,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi who was Wood’s teammate from 2000-2002 with the Cubs and then managed him in New York.. “Loved playing with him. He loved to play the game. He really did.’

Wood returned to the Cubs in 2011, when he went 3-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 55 relief appearances before shutting it down because of a tear in his left knee that required arthroscopic surgery. In January, Wood agreed to play for the Cubs again for million — double his 2011 pay — with a million club option for 2013.

It was no secret that Wood wanted to remain a Cub. He lives in Chicago year-round, and the team’s new regime had made it clear the feelings were mutual. New president of baseball operations Theo Epstein called it a “no-brainer” move to bring back the popular reliever.

Wood, after all, came of age as an athlete in Chicago and his games have provided some welcome bright spots for a franchise that infamously hasn’t won a World Series in more than a century.

The Cubs’ No. 1 selection in the 1995 amateur draft was a 20-year-old rookie when he delivered one of the greatest pitching performances of all time. On May 6, 1998, he allowed only one hit, a third-inning single by Ricky Gutierrez, in a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros. It was his fifth major league start.

As the game progressed and with rain falling, Wood’s stuff was never better. Throwing fastballs at 100 mph and with his slider dipping around the Houston bats, Wood didn’t walk a batter, hit one with a pitch and gave up that lone infield single on a ball Cubs third baseman Kevin Orie couldn’t come up with.

When Wood fanned Bill Spiers in the ninth for his 19th strikeout, Wood tied the National League record. He struck out Derek Bell to end the game and tie Roger Clemens’ major league mark (the two still remain the only MLB pitchers to do it in nine innings).

“I didn’t know how many strikeouts I had. I knew I had already given up a hit in the third inning,” Wood later recalled. “I was just trying to get my first complete game.”

He added: “I’ll never forget it. It’s a great moment in my life and my career.”

Wood said his slider was his main weapon that day as he struck out the side in the first, fifth, seventh and eighth innings, and fanned two each in the second, fourth and ninth, and one each in the third and the sixth. Wood threw 122 pitches, 84 for strikes, and got a congratulatory phone call from Clemens afterward.

“The age, as hard as he threw, the command and the poise that he had on the mound, nothing bothered him that day,” Gutierrez recalled. “After the game, we just took our hats off to him. He did a great job. There’s nothing you can take away from him.”

Wood struck out 13 in seven innings in his next outing, setting a major league record for strikeouts in back-to-back games. Clemens and Nolan Ryan, whose No. 34 Wood wore on his back, are fellow Texans and the pitchers who most inspired the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Wood, who is from Irving, Texas.

Wood finished the 1998 season ranked third in the NL in strikeouts and won the league’s Rookie of the Year award. He missed the final month with a sore right elbow, then had reconstructive elbow surgery the next April, starting a run of arm and shoulder problems that undercut his career. He missed the entire 1999 season.

He had three double-figure victory seasons from 2001-03, and in 2003 he helped the Cubs reach Game 7 of the NLCS, where he was the losing pitcher despite hitting a home run against the Florida Marlins.

Shoulder problems nearly ended his career, but he made a stirring comeback and a successful transition to the bullpen, emerging as the Cubs’ closer in 2008 and converting 34 of 40 save opportunities.

“The shoulder was a lot tougher in the end there, in ’05 and ’06, was the toughest thing to come back from,” Wood recalled. “But you come back from it because you love the game of baseball and you love competing. You love being in that clubhouse with 24 other guys.”

Steve Stone, the Cy Young winner who has been a broadcaster for both the Cubs and White Sox, said Wood threw across his body and that put undue stress on his arm.

“He came up with as good of stuff as anyone who ever came into this league. You talk about (Stephen) Strasburg and the impact (Doc) Gooden had, the reality is Kerry’s stuff was better than both of those guys,” Stone said.

“Kerry had the 100 mph fastball. He had an unhittable curveball. He had an unhittable slider. And that day in his fifth major league start he got them all over the plate. He didn’t walk anybody. It was absolutely phenomenal,” Stone said. “I think the hopes and prayers of the Cubs fans, seeing that, said, ‘this is a guy that’s going to rival Ferguson Jenkins.’… But it was a fatal flaw in his delivery that was his undoing.”

Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija said Wood’s influence was heavy on him as he grew up in Indiana.

“I remember being a kid and my dad reading an article about Kerry working out in the pool and that’s why he threw 98. So my dad, the next day, has me in the pool kicking floaties around,” Samardzija said. “For a kid growing up in the Midwest, that’s what Kerry was to us kids.

:When we were coming up, that’s the dude you wanted to be. That’s how you wanted to throw.”

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AP Sports Writer Writer Ron Blum contributed to this report.

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