A Long Overdue Tribute to Tim Wakefield
The Red Sox truck full of baseball equipment made the trip down to Fort Myers, Florida. It’s usually an exciting time even if the team is in a rebuilding phase. But there is no joy in the air right now, and not just because of the team. Straight up, I can’t believe I’m writing this. It still doesn’t feel real.
Boston fans have endured a lot of heartbreak as of late. Losing Tommy Heinsohn, KC Jones, and Jerry Remy all in the last few years. We still aren’t over RemDawg’s passing. That trend continued with the shocking passing of Tim Wakefield in the fall. Former teammate Curt Schilling on his talk show shockingly revealed that Tim Wakefield and his wife were battling cancer, and made that public without their permission. A day or so later, news broke that the beloved man known as Wake lost a short battle with brain cancer. His wife Stacy continues to fight the disease. They have young children.
There was shock. There was sadness. There was even some anger towards the former bloody sock warrior for being the person to break this tragic news the way he did. It was wrong. It was disrespectful. It was classless. Those words were never used to describe Tim Wakefield. Safe to say, it’s a stark contrast.
Wake’s story almost never came to be. A former first baseman who couldn’t latch on with the Pittsburgh Pirates who transitioned into a pitcher out of desperation. He was part of the Red Sox farm system when the legendary Rodger Clemens got injured in 1995. Wake was called up and made an impact right away. He went back and forth as a starter, reliever, and closer until finally cementing himself in the starting rotation in 2003. A big reason why the curse was broken in 2004, Wake was one of a dying breed, a knuckle ball thrower. When making the switch to pitching, he was able to learn how to throw the difficult pitch and it gave his career a second chance. He became a mainstay on the roster and became the oldest pitcher in team history to win a game at age 42. He retired in 2012 and joined the broadcast team.
But forget about baseball. His impact in this area was far greater than that. He became the face of The Red Sox Foundation as the Honorary Chairman. His charitable contributions included the locally famous Run to Homebase, The Jimmy Fund, and other personal and hospital visits to children in Boston and New England. He also contributed to other charities outside of his own and outside of the area. Right before his passing, a news story was revisited about how he taught a professional women’s baseball player in Japan how to throw the knuckle ball many years ago. The two reunited and the connection was stronger than ever. He was a pros pro on and off the diamond.
His passing during the season was even harder to stomach. Everyone was hurting. Former teammate and current broadcaster Kevin Youkilis struggled to put into words what his longtime friend meant to him. With his voice breaking, he spoke from the heart and said what everyone was thinking, but he was the only one able to get it out. Once again, Youk knew what to do. Watch that moment here.
We had time to process Jerry, but this happened too fast to comprehend. Once again we start a season mourning. Once again we’re empty and missing something. Once again baseball feels incomplete. We’re never going to get that back.
We measure greatness in sports in victories, then we eventually get to deeds of good work and charity. It would be doing Wake a disservice if we start with baseball when we remember him. His life ended like his career did, a joyous celebration before the unfortunate fade to black. We’ll leave one light on at Fenway for Wake - fitting as he was the glimmer and beacon for so many.