With the announcement yesterday that Tim Wakefield is retiring from baseball, the community of internet writers have begun reflecting on his career. Wakefield was not the most dominate pitcher or the most eccentric, but his working-man approach to the game and the mercurial pitch that he used to make his living made him a fan favorite. I touched on Wake a little bit here at RantSports already and I will have more thoughts on his thrilling and improbable career tomorrow, but for Red Sox fans looking for some thoughts on his career have plenty of great pieces to remind them of all the joy and pain that number 49 brought to the Fenway faithful in his 17 years with the Sox.
Fangraphs has a nice recap of his career care of Paul Swydan. The stat-centric site concludes that Wake was one player who was beyond the pure statistical value he gave the team.
Among the many writers covering the Boston Red Sox, Alex Speier stands out. The WEEI is in the running for the top Red Sox beat writer in the world and his case for Wakefield being the most loyal Red Sox player of the free agent era is essential reading for Sox fans.
Among those competing with Mr. Speier for that title are two writers at the Providence Journal. Tim Britton examines the tougher side of Mr. Wakefield through the eyes of Jon Lester and Daniel Bard. His esteemed colleague, Brian MacPherson, remembers Wakefield’s willingness to do what ever the team asked him to, even if that was stepping aside this spring.
Of course, great writing doesn’t just come from the traditional media sources. My other home, Over the Monster, covered his retirement and flashed back to a site wide tribute from his 200th win.
For anyone who has only recently discovered Boston Red Sox baseball or spent the last 17 years in an alcohol induced stupor and want to catch up on the details of Wake’s career, I highly recommendWakes’s autobiography written with Tony Massarotti. You can find my review of it here.
Finally, the great Joe Posnanski laments Wake’s retirement and the fading glory of the knuckle ball. As Pos points out, the golden age of the knuckle ball may be over, but as long as the pitch can mystify hitters, it will always find its way into the Major Leagues.
Tim Wakefield managed a 19 year career in baseball’s greatest league throwing a pitch that he could not control. He threw nearly 25 mph slower than the the average ML pitcher, tortured his catchers, and survived erratic ups and downs with baseball’s most unpredictable pitch. By learning to live with unfathomable uncertainty, he became the model of consistency. He will be missed.
