Tim Wakefield Retires from Baseball

When I first became a Red Sox fan, Tim Wakefield was there. Along with Nomar, Pedro, and other fine players, Wakefield was there as a starter for as long as I could remember. He was never a superstar pitcher but he earned his keep with his unique pitch: the Knuckleball. He seemed like a down the middle of the road pitcher but reliable for giving a decent year through and through despite doing it with an unpredictable pitch. Those days, however, are over. Tim Wakefield has decided to call it a career and retire from baseball after 19 seasons in the bigs, 17 of them with the Red Sox. He leaves the game with 200 total victories and 186 of them with the Red Sox, just 6 short of the tied Red Sox record in wins held by Roger Clemens and Cy Young.

I have a lot of respect for Tim Wakefield. He has been loyal to the nation for long and they have returned the favor. He was there for the best and the worst of times for the last 17 years. He was the pitcher that gave up the winning home run to Aaron Boone of the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS. He was there in the 2004 ALCS ("The Comeback") when he took a beating in game 3 to preserve the bullpen and then helped win game 5 in a long 14 inning game. He was there when the curse was broken in 2004 and there when the Red Sox won it again in 2007. He was there when they needed him to start games or to fill a few innings in when they needed it. I thank him for all of it.

Tim Wakefield will never be known as one of the best but he will be known as one of the most unique. That in itself makes him a Hall of Famer in my book.