Red Sox Pitcher Tim Wakefield Retires After 19 Seasons
By Ty Duffy
At the risk of “Joe Morgan-ing” this, Wakefield was consistently inconsistent. When his knuckleball worked, he mowed down hitters. When his knuckleball did not work, he got shelled. He averaged out to a decent fourth or fifth starter for a number of years with Boston filled a pivotal support role on two World Series winners.
Wakefield did have some notable postseason moments. He won two games for the Pirates in the 1992 NLCS after an 8-1, 2.15 ERA, 161 ERA+ regular season. Though he gave up the final home run to Aaron Boone in the 2003 ALCS, he likely would have been the Series MVP had the Red Sox not collapsed in Game 7. In the 2004 ALCS, Wakefield sacrificed his start to save the bullpen in Game 3 and pitched three scoreless innings of relief for the win in Game 5.
[Photo via US Presswire]