Retired Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood and his wife, Sarah, have placed their six-bedroom, 11,250-square-foot Georgian Revival-style mansion in Winnetka on the market for $8.49 million.

Wood, 46, first shot to prominence in 1998 when as a rookie he struck out 20 players in a shutout. He pitched for the team from 1998 until 2008, and he returned to the club for his final two seasons. Wood currently is a Cubs Ambassador, after previously serving as a special assistant to the Cubs’ president of baseball operations.

In addition, Wood and his wife founded the Pitch-In after-school mentoring program. And on Friday, the Cubs announced that Wood had been elected to the team’s Hall of Fame.

The Woods bought their three-story mansion in an off-market transaction in 2019 through an Illinois limited liability company. Built in 1902 for Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad executive Charles I. Sturgis and designed by architect William Otis, the mansion is encircled by a curved red brick perimeter wall and wrought iron gates.

Inside, the mansion has 5-1/2 bathrooms, five fireplaces, a grand staircase with extra-wide steps, wide-band hand rails and hand-carved balusters, along with millwork, wide-cased openings, restored windows, a walnut-paneled dining room and a living room with a fireplace and arched bookshelves.

The kitchen has white marble countertops, top-of-the-line appliances and a Farrow & Ball blue island. Other features include an eating area with curved bay picture windows, a second staircase, a mud room, a screened porch and a family room with original bookcases and a restored fireplace.

On the second floor, the mansion has a primary bedroom suite with a fireplace and two new walk-in closets, along with three more bedrooms. The third floor has two additional bedrooms, an office and a game room, while the mansion’s basement, which was refinished by the Woods, has an arts and crafts studio, a gym with a sauna, a wine room and a recreation room with a bar.

Outside on the 0.71-acre property are a swimming pool that was installed by the Woods, along with a new pool house that has a bathroom, a washer/dryer, a changing room, storage and a garden shed. The property also includes a new outdoor kitchen, a new pergola, a fire pit, working organic gardens, a brick driveway and a heated three-car garage with extra storage and a work bench.

“This east Winnetka in-town compound is simply out of this world,” listing agent Jena Radnay of @properties told Elite Street. “If you appreciate beautiful, distinguished architecture and understand the cost, the headache and the vision that is needed to restore to a glorious, high-end level of luxury, then this house is unmatched. We have yet to have a house in this kind of premier location in Winnetka, and I can even say in the North Shore. It’s a Mecca of beauty, every square inch.”

Radnay told Elite Street that the Woods are moving because they are “changing up things a bit.”

“They have a son graduating from high school, and Chicago will always be their home. That will never change,” she said.

Earlier, the Woods owned a newly built, six-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot mansion in Winnetka, which they bought in 2015 for $3.8 million and sold in early 2020 for $4.15 million. Prior to that, they paid $4.63 million in 2010 for an historic Tudor Revival-style mansion in Winnetka that they sought to raze but ultimately decided against doing so, instead selling that mansion at a loss in late 2013 for $4.18 million.

The Woods also have owned a four-bedroom, Beaux-Arts-style mansion in Lincoln Park, which they bought for $3.32 million in 2008 and sold in 2017 for $3 million; a vintage house in the Old Town Triangle, which they bought in 2004 for $1.3 million and sold in 2008 for $1.2 million; a River North condo that they bought in 2003 for $712,000 and sold in 2005 for $760,000; and a waterfront mansion in Fontana, Wis. that they bought in 2014 for $3.8 million and sold in 2017 for $4.7 million.

The Winnetka mansion that Kerry and Sarah Wood are selling had a $91,357 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year. The mansion is set to be publicly listed on Wednesday, Radnay said, with showings to begin that day.

Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

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One of the worst moments for Thelma Krause could have a happy ending.

It didn’t take long for social media to react to the booing of Thelma’s husband, late Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause, during the Ring of Honor ceremony Friday at the United Center.

The loud and prolonged booing brought Thelma to tears. The scene was not only shown live on NBC Sports Chicago, but she suddenly appeared on the video boards at the United Center. The sight of Thelma crying apparently was too much to take for the crowd, and a smattering of cheers for Jerry was heard as she was being consoled by Ron Harper.

But it was too late.

The ceremony quickly moved on, though the booing is what will be remembered most on a night meant to honor the people who helped make the Bulls a successful, internationally known franchise.

Bulls TV analyst Stacey King and Golden State coach Steve Kerr were the first to publicly denounce the actions of fans, while Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf soon released a statement supporting Jerry and Thelma, though he failed to criticize the fans who participated in the booing.

Harper, the hero of the moment, had no such qualms.

“We don’t boo Jerry Krause,” Harper told NBC Sports Chicago after the game. “The man’s done a lot of great things here. He may not be your favorite person, but we cheer and we respect the man. I didn’t really appreciate that part.”

Within 24 hours, almost everyone had offered their opinion of the booing Bulls fans. Thelma received a massive dose of sympathy, something her husband rarely got when he was alive, and Chicago fans got a black eye.

KC Johnson, a longtime friend and currently the Bulls insider for NBC Sports Chicago, spoke to Thelma on Saturday and said on the pregame show that “she is in a remarkably good place because of the overwhelming support she has received today from people all around the league, around the franchise.

“The word she gave to me was ‘I’ve had so much support I can’t help but focus on the positive not the negative. Sometimes good things come from bad instances.’”

Hopefully, this is one of those instances and Thelma can move on.

Anyone who knew Jerry Krause knew of Thelma, even if they had never met her. Whenever I ran into Krause in spring training, when he returned to being a baseball scout after leaving the Bulls, he would go on and on about how happy he was in his post-Bulls life, getting to spend more time with Thelma and the grandkids. I’d never seen him so relaxed.

Krause died in March 2017 at age 77, only 10 days before the news that he would be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Three years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Krause was made out as a villain in “The Last Dance,” the documentary on the end of the Bulls’ dynasty.

He was not alive to defend himself, of course, and the narrative that he was responsible for the breakup of the team gained traction. Krause’s acquisitions of key players like Harper and Dennis Rodman and the drafting of Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, were mostly overlooked.

That’s Hollywood. You need heroes and villains to make a story work.

But Krause was a two-time NBA Executive of the Year and a Hall of Famer. Obviously his peers understood his role in building two three-peat champions. And a baseball scout, he helped bring to the Sox Ozzie Guillén, Julio Cruz, Ed Farmer, Tom Seaver, Greg Luzinski, Ken Williams and Greg Walker, among other stars of the early ‘80s teams.

“He had a hand in seven championships, being that he scouted Ozzie and myself and counseled us in the early years of some of the things we had to go through in our general manager-player relationships,” Williams told me after Krause’s death. “He’s probably telling his friends up there right now he actually has seven (rings).”

Williams said if people knew Krause’s “softer side” and could hear some of his storytelling “maybe he would’ve gotten a break he probably deserved.”

Krause wasn’t warm and cuddly to outsiders, and didn’t get many breaks from fans, or his own players, including Pippen. He chalked it up as part of the job of being a general manager of a high-profile franchise in a sports-loving town.

Some have blamed the Friday booing on millennial fans who weren’t even around when Krause was building the Bulls. Others wondered whether Chicago was turning into Philadelphia, where booing is part of their fans’ repertoire.

But this episode was not really something new.

A similar incident happened 17 years ago at the United Center, when fans booed during a pregame memorial for former Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz, who had just died. As soon as Hawks analyst Dale Tallon delivered the line “William Wirtz was a true Chicagoan,” the boos rained down from the third level and continued for well over a minute.

Even the moment of silence for Wirtz was disrupted by fans ripping him. Like Krause, Wirtz was vilified for decisions that led to some fan favorites leaving.

The Wirtz family members who sat through the rude display can no doubt empathize with Thelma, though at least their faces weren’t on the video board for everyone to see their pain.

Harper put it best when he said Krause “may not be your favorite person, but we cheer and we respect the man” when he’s being honored.

If you can’t find it within yourself to applaud someone’s accomplishments, at least do the right thing and remain silent. In the end, it’s just sports.

Thelma Krause’s viral moment can’t be erased. A week ago she was mostly anonymous, and now everyone in Chicago knows her name.

But now that the tears have dried, at least she can be consoled somewhat by the virtual group hug she’s received.

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Team Minnesota entered Sunday’s game against New York at Xcel Energy Center as the only undefeated team in the Professional Women’s Hockey League season, and when they entered the second period leading 2-0, it didn’t look like that would change.

But what appeared to be a tight grip on the game slowly slipped away before, suddenly, it was out of reach, as New York skated away with a 3-2 overtime win in front of an announced crowd of 7,951.

“Yeah, let it slip,” said Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne Schofield. “They’re a good hockey team; opportunistic. We played well, but definitely not our best.”

After seeing the game go to overtime, Minnesota had a great chance to end it in spectacular fashion. Winger Grace Zumwinkle, tied for the league lead in goals with four, was awarded a penalty shot after she was dragged down in the crease after an electric end-to-end rush.

Zumwinkle moved in on New York goaltender Corrin Schroeder on left wing before letting go a wrist shot to the short side that was turned away by Schroeder.

“She was flying,” Minnesota coach Ken Klee said of Zumwinkle’s end-to-end rush. “It was awesome. How exciting to have a penalty shot in overtime with a chance to win the game. From the bench, it looked like the goalie stopped it with the knob of her stick.

“That’s why goalies have a stick. She made a good stop.”

Emma Woods scored the game winner for New York 41 seconds later, beating Minnesota goaltender Maddie Rooney with a wrist shot high to the stick side.

“Obviously it’s a good feeling in front of this Xcel crowd,” Woods said. “Quiet the building. I think we did a good job of that in the second and the third and in overtime.”

Woods said Team New York was well aware coming into the game that Minnesota was the only team in the league still undefeated.

“They’re (also) the only team that didn’t lose their first game in their building,” she said, “so obviously they were building off that momentum. They’re a very skilled and fast team, and we matched that tonight.

“So yeah, it felt good to take them out of the win column for a bit.”

Coyne Schofield gave credit to New York for playing a strong game.

“Any team that goes down 2-0, you can sulk, you can feel bad for yourself, like ‘Oh, this is going to get out of hand,’” she said. “They never once played that way.”

After failing to score on an early 5-on-3 power play that lasted for one minute, 52 seconds, Minnesota took a 1-0 lead at 7:16 of the first period on defenseman Lee Stecklein’s first goal of the season. Stecklein beat Schroeder on a wrist shot from the left point that found the net through traffic.

Kelly Pannek scored her second goal of the season at 11:22 to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead. Pannek gained control of a bouncing puck at the New York blue line, got behind the defense and beat Schroeder on a wrist shot.

New York tied the game on a pair of power-play goals. The first came at 14:23 of the second period when Alex Carpenter scored her fourth goal of the season off a backdoor pass from the left point.

New York tied the game at 10:49 of the third period when Jessie Eldridge scored off a scramble in front.

From Klee’s perspective, his team could have pulled away well before overtime if it had done a better job of finishing its scoring chances.

“I liked a lot about our game,” he said. “Maybe shoot the puck a little more. Some little things to where we got tight as the game got on. All of sudden we got puck allergies, which is not a great thing.”

Klee said the way his team lost — blowing a 2-0 lead at home — does not add any extra sting to the team’s first loss.

“It’s a 24-game season; we have to pile up points,” he said. “We got another point tonight; they only got two. If we get points every night we’re going to be in a good spot.”

The Chicago White Sox reached one-year deals with all seven of their arbitration-eligible players Thursday, including starting pitcher Dylan Cease.

The Sox and Cease came to terms on a one-year, $8 million contract. The 28-year-old right-hander, who went 7-9 with a 4.58 ERA and 214 strikeouts in 33 starts in 2023, has been mentioned in trade speculation throughout the offseason.

During a video conference with reporters this week, general manager Chris Getz said the Sox have had conversations involving Cease, “but I also know that we’re not going to move a player like Dylan or anyone else unless we feel like we’re going to benefit,” he said. “So it’s got to be right for all parties.”

Whether the Sox hold on to Cease — the American League Cy Young Award runner-up in 2022, when he went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA — or deal him is one of the major questions remaining this offseason.

The Sox also avoided arbitration with infielder Nicky Lopez ($4.3 million), first baseman Andrew Vaughn ($3.25 million) and pitchers Michael Kopech ($3 million), Michael Soroka ($3 million), Touki Toussaint ($1.3 million) and Garrett Crochet ($800,000).

Kopech went 5-12 with a 5.43 ERA in 30 appearances (27 starts) in 2023. He moved back to the rotation in 2022 after spending most of 2021 as a reliever.

Crochet also plans to build up to go from the bullpen to the rotation. He had a 3.55 ERA in 13 relief appearances in 2023 after missing the 2022 season following Tommy John surgery.

Vaughn slashed .258/.314/.429 with 21 home runs and 80 RBIs as he moved to his natural position of first base after spending much of his first two seasons in the outfield.

Toussaint went 4-6 with a 4.97 ERA in 19 outings (15 starts) with the Sox, who claimed him off waivers in June. Soroka and Lopez were acquired in November as part of a six-player trade with the Atlanta Braves.

The Sox also announced they have named Jin Wong assistant general manager. He spent the previous 24 seasons (2000-23) with the Kansas City Royals, the last two as vice president/assistant GM.

Among his responsibilities with the Sox, Wong will oversee contract negotiations, salary arbitration, budgeting and payroll management and compliance with Major League Baseball rules and regulations, including the collective bargaining agreement.

Wong’s professional career began in 1997 with the Braves. His previous roles with the Royals were assistant GM for baseball administration (2015-21), director of baseball administration (2006-14), director of baseball operations (2004-05), manager of baseball operations (2002-03), manager of scouting operations (2001-02) and scouting operations coordinator (2000).

Wong joins the Sox as assistant GM Jeremy Haber is leaving the organization.

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