Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Guard your grill, knuckle up. I ain’t the type to give up. Guard your grill, knuckle up. Put ‘em up, you ain’t tough. Guard your grill, knuckle up! -Naughty By Nature
Word out of Fort Myers is that knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is fighting to earn a spot on the Red Sox roster. I for one am rooting for him. Willie Stargell once said, “Throwing a knuckleball for a strike is like throwing a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbor’s mailbox.” I wasn’t around when Lew “Hicks” Moren invented it. I never saw Hoyt Wilhelm. I barely remember Phil Niekro and Charlie Hough. Wilbur Wood is from my hometown but he was before my time. I’ve seen Tim Wakefield though. I’ve seen Tim Wakefield pitch for a lot of innings. A plethora of innings. A gaggle of innings. A slew of innings. Sixteen years worth of innings. Sixteen years worth of knuckleballs.
Tim Wakefield is not having a great spring. This spring, his knuckleball is staying high in the zone. You know what that spells boys and girls? That spells trouble. Trouble, my friend, right here in Palm City. Trouble with a capital T that rhymes with B that stands for bomb. In his last outing on Friday night, Wakefield gave up four home bombs in a six-batter span and was chased by the Rays after three innings. His Grapefruit League ERA is 7.45 — seven runs in eight innings. His prospects are not good. Terry Francona: “We’re going to have some interesting decisions to make here come this last week.”
Yes sports fans, on some nights Tim Wakefield is merely pedestrian. And as last Friday night proved, on some nights he’s downright hittable. But on some nights, some nights, when all the planets are aligned just so, on those nights, those nights when the knuckleball is knuckling just right, Tim Wakefield is truly something to behold.
- He was something to behold back in 1995. Back in 1995 the Red Sox rotation was struggling so from Wakefield was called up from Triple A. He began the season with a 1.65 ERA and a 14–1 record through 17 games – 6 of which were complete games. He ended the year 16–8 with a 2.95 ERA, helping the Red Sox win the American League East division title, and capturing the Sporting News American League Comeback Player of the Year while finishing third in the AL Cy Young Award balloting.
- He was something to behold against the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS. You can Aaron f’n Boone me all you want, but know this: Wakefield allowed only three runs in thirteen innings against the Yankees in the 2003 ALCS. He started Games One and Four against Mike Mussina and won both of them.
- He was something to behold in Game Five of the 2004 ACLS. Game Five, where Wakefield was the winning pitcher in a fourteen inning thriller. You know it’s thriller, thriller night. You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller. Fought for his life throwing three shutout innings.
- He was something to behold in 2009. On April 15, 2009, a day after the Red Sox bullpen was tasked with pitching over 11 innings of relief, Wakefield told Terry Francona: “I understand the circumstances and I just wanted you to know: Whatever happens, don’t take me out; let me keep going.” He went on to carry a no-hitter into the eighth inning, and earned a complete-game win. At 42, this made him the oldest Red Sox pitcher to pitch a complete game, a record he would break himself in his next start when he pitched a second consecutive complete game win, this time in a seven-inning, rain-shortened game.
Now, Tim Wakefield is fighting for his life once again. This time he is fighting for baseball life. The next round of that fight is a Minor League game this Thursday at the Sox Minor League complex in Fort Myers. Keep your fingers crossed.
Peace out homies. Six two and even!