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Monday marks the 15th anniversary of perhaps the greatest single-game pitching performance in Major League Baseball history. On May 6, 1998, a Cubs rookie by the name of Kerry Wood struck out 20 Astros in a one-hit shutout.

The highlights:

Man, his stuff was electric. I think the best highlight is Jeff Bagwell taking a looking strikeout and just seeming baffled by the Wood curve.

The final line:

9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 20 K, 122 pitches, 29 batters faced

What separated Wood from a perfect game was a single that glanced off the glove of third baseman Kevin Orie -- and many third baseman would have made this play -- and a hit batsman (Craig Biggio, who was no stranger to getting hit with pitches, as we all know).

Bear in mind, this was an Astros team that went on to win 102 games and lead the National League in on-base percentage. It had four players (Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Moises Alou and Derek Bell) end the season with at least a 125 OPS-plus.

No pitcher has ever struck out more hitters in a nine-inning game. And Wood was inches from a no-hitter. We could even argue inches from a perfect game. Most of this was done with a 1-0 Cubs lead, too -- the Cubs won 2-0 after getting one run in the eighth -- so Wood had very little margin for error.

Considering all of the above factors, this outing was obviously one of the best in MLB history. I'm only 34, but it was easily the most dominant pitching performance I've ever seen.

Happy anniversary, Kerry.

Hat-tip: Ultimate Astros