To help bolster the Cubs depleted bullpen, the new Cubs strength and conditioning coach, 11-year-old Jeremy Franklin, has put Kerry Wood on a revolutionary rehab schedule centered around the Nintendo Wii game console. For the next four to six weeks, Wood is expected to spend at least four hours a day playing Wii Sports, moving the Wii remote in a realistic throwing motion to build up his endurance and arm strength.

"The Wii is totally awesome," said Franklin. "Did you know that you can have Kerry pretend to throw using the remote, and then it pitches like he's really pitching it? It's so cool!"

He added that Wood's Mii looks somewhat like the pitcher, since he gave the legless profile character a similar looking goatee. Franklin finished by saying he expects Wood to make a full and speedy recovery under the new program, just as long as he does not cheat by just flicking the remote slightly towards the screen to pitch.

From the June 2007 issue by Jeff GoodSmith