In his rookie year with the Pirates, he went 8-1 with a 2.15 ERA and beat Tom Glavine (305 lifetime wins and two Cy Youngs) not once, but twice in the NLCS. What a start!
In his first year with the Red Sox, he was 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA and finished third in the Cy Young balloting.
Those years were 1992 and 1994. He would never again be as effective as he was then. His ERA would never again go below 4.00 in any year with 20 or more starts, and his lifetime mark was 4.41. He did get to beat the great Mike Mussina (270 lifetime wins) twice in the 2003 ALCS, but the sweetness of those victories later turned sour in Yankee Stadium when Wake gave up Aaron Boone's famous series-ending homer in the bottom of the 11th in game 7.
All was forgiven the next year when the knuckleballer got to start the opening game of the World Series in Boston's miraculous 2004 championship season. I reckon that more than a few of us old-timers might have dreamed of that in our childhoods.
He also contributed 17 wins in Boston's 2007 championship year, a feat which seems pretty impressive when you consider that he had to compete for starts with Curt Schilling, Dice-K, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester. Wake wasn't the flashiest of that bunch, but he was reliable and, like ol' man river, he just kept rollin' along. He took the ball every fifth game and, when the final numbers got posted, only Beckett had more wins.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Tim Wakefield retires with 200 wins
Tim Wakefield retires with 200 wins
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And he would have been MVP of the Series if Leyland would have let him pitch in relief in game 7. Wakefield was absolutely unhittable at that point, but Jimmy wouldn't let him pitch. Great manager who made IMHO a mistake that cost his team the crown.
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