Cubs players shut down loudmouth Wood after HR

It might've been the single greatest thing that's happened to Travis Wood on the diamond, but it was the worst-case scenario for his Chicago Cubs teammates - and their ears.

“I already told him he’s not allowed to talk,” Cubs ace Jon Lester told reporters. “It’s 4 1/2 hours of listening to the recap of him hitting a homer."

Lester's rotation-mate John Lackey backed up those words, adding, “It’s gonna be a long ride."

While Wood is just a pitcher, he believes he's far more than that. Of course, it's all tongue-in-cheek, but Wood might've been the one Cubs player who wanted to hit a home run more than anything.

“He thinks that he can play first as good as (Anthony) Rizzo, and he thinks he can play third as good as (Kris) Bryant,” said Wood's veteran catcher David Ross. “He thinks he should be batting fourth in the lineup when he’s in there pitching. He’s that guy. It’s just fun. He’s the guy that comes back and says, ‘I can’t believe I missed that pitch.’”

In Saturday's 5-2 win over the San Francisco Giants, Wood didn't miss his pitch. With the Cubs leading 4-2 in the fourth inning, Wood stole the spotlight, becoming the first reliever to hit a postseason homer since 1924.

Wood took a George Kontos cut-fastball and deposited it 393 feet over the left-field wall. While the feat was historic, his teammates knew exactly what was coming next.

“The worst thing about Travis Wood is I’m gonna have to listen to his crap the whole way to San Francisco," Ross said. "He’s gonna get a couple cocktails in him, and then he’s gonna get diarrhea of the mouth. He swears he’s such a good hitter, so I’ve been all over him about stop swinging at the first pitch, and he swings at that first pitch and takes it deep.

"He’s gonna give it to me. He already did on the bench," Ross added. "I said, ‘Travis, get away from me. I’m trying to focus on the game, and I can’t listen to your crap right now.’”