RIP Tim Wakefield

[justgladtobehere]

A crazy career. A change of positions plus an MLB comeback while starting and closing. On top of that, he was on the Red Sox during a very interesting time. Ortiz is the face of the franchise, but Wakefield was there during the '90's semi-success and subsequent changeover. The ending kind of sucked.

 

[Della9250]

So it’s now obvious that the Wakefields reached out to former teammates to let them know his time was short and Schilling just couldn’t keep his mouth shot

 

[wicked]

Alex Cora said he met with Wakefield at the ballpark a couple weeks ago and that he was confident about what was on the horizon re: treatments.

But chemo is brutal and it’s evil — sometimes a necessary evil. I don’t know how people do it.

 

[Sea Bass]

Born in Melbourne. Eau Gallie High School grad before Prince Fielder wound up there. Went to Brevard Community College (never played a game before he quit) and was a power-hitting first baseman at Florida Tech. His dad taught him how to throw a knuckler but as micropolitan guy stated, it wasn't until he switched to pitching in the minors that he perfected it.

Weird to think guys like Wakefield and Brooks Robinson probably wouldn't even get drafted now because of analytics. He couldn't break a pane of glass but won 200 games in the bigs.

RIP.

No disrespect intended to the man but I would have never thought he got to 200. Good for him.

 

[User 149557]

I think we can confidently say we’ll never see a closer with a knuckleball ever again.

 

[Songbird]

 

[justgladtobehere]

No disrespect intended to the man but I would have never thought he got to 200. Good for him.

Getting there was tough. He was pitching poorly at the end of the season while the team was choking away the wild card.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Not a Sox fan, but respect what Wakefield was able to accomplish. RIP.

 

[mateen]

I'm not sure I recall seeing an outpouring of respect from former teammates when a player has passed away quite like what we've seen for Wakefield - he appears to have been truly beloved.

 

[Slacker]

I'm not sure I recall seeing an outpouring of respect from former teammates when a player has passed away quite like what we've seen for Wakefield - he appears to have been truly beloved.

How soon we forget ... Brooks Robinson?

 

[mateen]

Very fair point, although with Wakefield there seems to be more of a sense in which they're praising, among other things, his unique qualities as a teammate, which I didn't see quite as much with Robinson. There the encomiums focused on his otherworldly fielding and his being possibly the nicest man on the planet. Both appear to have been even better as people than they were as players.

 

[UNCGrad]

Very fair point, although with Wakefield there seems to be more of a sense in which they're praising, among other things, his unique qualities as a teammate, which I didn't see quite as much with Robinson. There the encomiums focused on his otherworldly fielding and his being possibly the nicest man on the planet. Both appear to have been even better as people than they were as players.

Perhaps it's just that Wakefield was more present and recent in the minds of more people. And that someone passing at 57 feels more of a - I don't have the right word here - "loss" than someone at 86.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Given the reaction to Schillinbg's comments, there's also the fact that only a very small number of people knew Wakefield was sick. I sure didn't. So his death came as more of an immediate shock to a lot of folks.

 

[justgladtobehere]

Wakefield took a lot for the team. He switched between starter and reliever, he stayed in games to eat innings, he signed team friendly deals.

I remember one story of a game when he just got blasted, but stayed in the game. Reporters mentioned players going up to him to thank him after the game.

Also, I think he was the longest tenured player on the 2004 team. He straddled two generations of the Red Sox so he stood out with fans and players.

 

[Starman]

Bill Janes had an article at some point trying to study the old cliche that knuckleballers tend to be streaky and erratic, more so than other pitchers. I believe the conclusion was this was probably true - when a knuckleballer is going bad, he goes really bad, but when the good ones get it going they can be unhittable.
The huge difference is that knuckleballers aren't usually allowed to "go really bad" for more than a couple games before they get yanked from the rotation.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Bill Janes had an article at some point trying to study the old cliche that knuckleballers tend to be streaky and erratic, more so than other pitchers. I believe the conclusion was this was probably true - when a knuckleballer is going bad, he goes really bad, but when the good ones get it going they can be unhittable.
The huge difference is that knuckleballers aren't usually allowed to "go really bad" for more than a couple games before they get yanked from the rotation.

I did a lot of research on this because of Wakefield, and my conclusion was that knuckleballers wind up close to .500 in wins/losses and in general effectiveness. The fact they're innings-eaters doesn't usually save them from bad patches. It should be noted that the Sox teams Wakefield played for were total wagons offensively. If he ate innings, fine. One more turn at bat for us.

 

[Starman]

I think the knuckleballers who actually do put it together and win for anything more than partial seasons pretty much all develop reputations as durable, hardworking, crafty, all that good stuff, and it's probably mostly true.

Because the knuckleballers don't have the option of reaching back for the 97 mph heater.
Wakefield seemed to exemplify that image.

 

[wicked]

I know nothing about the physics of it, but I’ve always read that knuckleballers have a challenge adjusting between an outdoor field and one with an overhead roof. (I wonder where that puts Safeco with the open sides.) I’d imagine the lack of wind gives knuckleballers a challenge because they can’t rely on a breeze taking the ball slightly off course. Wouldn’t all pitchers have that issue? But maybe since knuckleballers throw slower it’s more of a variant? The smart people here would explain it better.

 

[X-Hack]

I know nothing about the physics of it, but I’ve always read that knuckleballers have a challenge adjusting between an outdoor field and one with an overhead roof. (I wonder where that puts Safeco with the open sides.) I’d imagine the lack of wind gives knuckleballers a challenge because they can’t rely on a breeze taking the ball slightly off course. Wouldn’t all pitchers have that issue? But maybe since knuckleballers throw slower it’s more of a variant? The smart people here would explain it better.

Joe Niekro spent a decade with the Astrodome as his home park. He had a 3.23 ERA and won nearly 150 games during his time in Houston. Not sure what the home/road splits were, but it seemed like he did OK overall.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

In the visitor's clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, while the mob howled for Grady Little's head (delivered the next day), Wakefield stood in front of his locker and took the entire responsibility for the loss because he gave up Boone's homer. Well, of course he was wrong, but I admired his sense of professional honor.

The transcript of Grady's presser is an all-timer. The whole world was in either locker room because what was there to possibly ask Little? I believe it was Bob Ryan who asked two questions and that was it.

ASAP Sports Transcripts - Baseball - 2003 - AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RED SOX v YANKEES - October 16 - Grady Little

Wakefield seemed like a good, decent man who did the right thing--inside and outside the locker room--because it was the right thing to do, not because he was desperate for attention and validation. RIP.