I’d like to take a moment to pause from the politics and acknowledge the end of what I think can be fairly called a great career with the Red Sox. As you’ve probably heard, Tim Wakefield will announce his retirement today after 17 seasons with the Sox. Chad Finn has a very good retrospective over at the Boston Globe.
From his first year with the team in 1995 when he went 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA, to playing a subtle but important role in helping the Sox win their first World Series in 86 years, to today’s announcement ending a generation-long career almost all (save his first couple seasons) with the same team, Wakefield was the paragon of a class act. Wake might not have had a Hall of Fame-caliber career, but there are few Red Sox that will leave such a positive impression on so many Sox fans. As his teammates came and went (from Mike Greenwell to Nomar to Mo to Youk to Adrian Gonzalez), Wake had his ups (his 200 career wins, including several shutouts and near no-hitters) and downs (Aaron Boone) on the field, but throughout everything he remained a consummate professional and a true Red Sock.
Thanks, Wake, for a tremendous Red Sox career!
One of my favorite Tim Wakefield memories was watching him absolutely dominate the Devil Rays (something he did frequently) back on June 20, 2001.
I was at a friend’s house for a graduation party and things were pretty busy with people coming in and out of the house, but eventually we were all glued to the TV screen as Wake got closer to a no-hitter with a knuckleball that was fluttering like crazy. He came three outs shy when Randy Winn hit a broken-bat single up the middle — and Derek Lowe almost blew it by giving up 4 runs that inning (the Sox won 5-4) — but it was a great time watching Wake’s knuckler that day.
Anyone else have any favorite memories from Wake’s playing days?
A great career.
but I’ll remember Wake as a class act, always willing to pitch in whatever role Tito gave him.
I will never forget how Tim came in and pitched 3 innings in the late innings of Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS, which my wife and I were lucky enough to attend. It was the most intense and exciting game I have ever been to and Wake played a key role in that eventual victory.
I hope the Sox make a point of setting aside his number for a while (perhaps reserve it for another knuckler?).
Yesterday I blogged about Tim Wakefield. He was a guy who was all about team and some of his teammates forgot about that last year.
http://mhasegawa.com/2012/02/18/wake-retires/
200 is a pretty good number to go out on.