Tim Wakefield, the knuckleballing hero of the Red Sox pitching staff, has died. The next year, after giving up a home run to the Yankees in the 2003 playoffs that ended their season, Wakefield helped the Red Sox break a curse and win the World Series. He turned 57.
In a statement released Sunday, the Red Sox said that he had died. The statement went over not only his baseball stats, but also the many good things he had done during his life. Former friend Curt Schilling said on a podcast last week that Wakefield had brain cancer. This caused a lot of people to show their support for Wakefield. At the time, the Red Sox said Wakefield was sick, but they didn’t say more because Wakefield had asked for privacy.
“It’s one thing to be a great player, but it’s something else to be a great person. In a statement, Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner said, “Tim was both.” “I know he made the world a better place because he was in it.”
Wakefield was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a first baseman after setting home run records in college. In the lower leagues, he learned how to throw a knuckleball and switched to being a pitcher. He won 200 games in the major leagues, including 186 with the Red Sox. Only Cy Young and Roger Clemens have won more games for the Red Sox.
Wakefield got the Roberto Clemente Award for sportsmanship and helping the community in 2010. He was also nominated for the award seven other times by the Red Sox. He was the first leader of the team to raise money for the Jimmy Fund, which helps kids with cancer. He also served as the honorary chairman of the Red Sox Foundation.
The Pirates said, “He was a great man who will be missed very much.”
But Wakefield’s role in the rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees in the early 2000s made him a fan favourite whose effect went far beyond his numbers.
After New York rallied to tie Game 7 of the ’03 AL Championship Series, Wakefield came on in relief in the 11th inning and Aaron Boone hit his first pitch for a walkoff home run to end Boston’s season and extend a World Series drought that stretched back to 1918.
The next October, when the Red Sox were playing the Yankees in the ALCS and their season was again at risk, Wakefield gave up his Game 4 start to pitch in relief in a blowout Game 3, saving the bullpen for the rest of the series. Boston lost 19-8 to fall behind three games to none but rallied with four straight wins, with Wakefield getting nine outs in extra innings of Game 5 to set up David Ortiz to win it in the 14th.
The Red Sox swept St. Louis in the World Series to win their first title in 86 years. They did it again in 2007.
Ortiz wrote on social media, “I can’t tell you how much you mean to me and my family.” “Right now, my heart is broken because I’ll never find another brother and friend like you….Sleep well, my brother.”
Guardians manager Terry Francona, who led Boston’s two championship teams, was in Detroit preparing for his retirement send-off when he heard about Wakefield. “It’s just like I got kicked in the stomach,” Francona said.
Boone, who is now the Yankees manager, also said he was broken-hearted.
“Aw, shucks. “I just feel terrible for their family,” he said. “My thoughts to all the Red Sox organization but also around baseball, where Tim was beloved. A sad day, for sure.”
Wakefield was 11-3 when he made his only All-Star Game in 2009, becoming the second-oldest player — to Satchel Paige — ever selected to his first All-Star Game. Wakefield was the oldest player in baseball at 45 when he earned his 200th win in September of 2011, retiring his final six batters.
He announced his retirement the following spring training, seven wins short of breaking the franchise record for wins held by Clemens and Young.
“I’m still a competitor, but ultimately I think this is what’s best for the Red Sox,” he said at the time. “I think this is what’s best for my family. And to be honest with you, seven wins isn’t going to make me a different person or a better man.”
An eighth-round Pittsburgh draft pick in 1988, Wakefield converted to a pitcher two years later in an effort to revive his chances of making the majors. He got his callup midway through the 1992 season and went 8-1, finishing third in the NL rookie of the year voting.
He added two complete games in the NL playoffs — one in Game 6 to keep Pittsburgh alive. He was voted the MVP of the Series late in Game 7, before the Atlanta Braves rallied to win on Francisco Cabrera’s single with two out in the bottom of the ninth.
But Wakefield was unable to recapture his success in his second year in Pittsburgh, going 6-11 with a 5.61 ERA. He was released by the Pirates after another trip through the minors, and signed six days later by the Red Sox.
Wakefield again strung together a dominant run, starting 14-1 in 1995 before finishing the year at 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA. After 17 seasons with Boston, he retired as the franchise leader with 3,006 innings and 430 starts, and second in games and strikeouts.
In all, he was 200-180 with a 4.41 ERA.
“Tim was more than just a versatile and reliable All-Star pitcher, a highly respected teammate, and a two-time World Series champion,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement, citing “the dedicated work he and his family did serving the communities of New England.”
Melany Duval, the Chief Philanthropy Officer at The Jimmy Fund, said Wakefield was a frequent visitor on the adult and pediatric cancer floors and met with the teen patients on their annual spring training trip.
“Tim Wakefield was a respected competitor, a generous soul and a beloved member of the baseball community for more than three decades as a player and a broadcaster,” said MLB Players Association President Tony Clark, a Red Sox teammate in 2002. “We at the MLBPA, along with the baseball family, mourn his loss.”
After retiring, Wakefield became an analyst for Red Sox broadcasts and was the honorary chairman of the Red Sox Foundation.
“Tim’s kindness and indomitable spirit were as legendary as his knuckleball,” Red Sox owner John Henry said. “He not only captivated us on the field but was the rare athlete whose legacy extended beyond the record books to the countless lives he touched with his warmth and genuine spirit. He had a remarkable ability to uplift, inspire, and connect with others in a way that showed us the true definition of greatness.”
