[Manny's PS2]

Sayonara #49

[MrNewEngland]

Probably a good thing for the 2012 Red Sox... but I really wanted to see him get the all time Red Sox wins record. Also he wasn't he just shy of getting on a couple lists (like innings pitched, strikeouts, or something like that)?

He was a true class act, we wouldn't have won without him in '04 when he gave up his game 4 start to go to pitch out of the bullpen in game 3.

Best of luck, Timmah.

[Manny's PS2]

It's weird, but one of my best memories of Wakefield was that hideous game 7 in the Toilet in 2003. He came in and pitched so well, and then gave up the HR to lose. I thought he pitched really well and didn;t deserve the outcome, but was crushed and understood what that HR did to the fan base. In other words - he "gets it", unlike so many others before and after him.

[rominer]

Manny, on 17 February 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

It's weird, but one of my best memories of Wakefield was that hideous game 7 in the Toilet in 2003. He came in and pitched so well, and then gave up the HR to lose. I thought he pitched really well and didn;t deserve the outcome, but was crushed and understood what that HR did to the fan base. In other words - he "gets it", unlike so many others before and after him.

Wakefield very well might have been the MVP of that series, if not for Aaron Boone's use of performance enhancing drugs.

[Manny's PS2]

rominer, on 17 February 2012 - 01:04 PM, said:

Wakefield very well might have been the MVP of that series, if not for Aaron Boone's use of performance enhancing drugs.

Don't forget Giambino's two solo HR's earlier in the game that had "Victor Conte" written all over them.

[rominer]

I am glad that no Red Sox players ever used steroids, at least.

[VoteRiceIn]

My favorite Wakefield memory comes from game 5 of the 2004 ALCS, pitching in innings 12-14. Tek couldn't catch him for sh*t, every pitch was a heart attack.

Well, now that the Dentist is back in town, there'll no doubt be a Wakefield Day at Fenway, a parade, a Wakefield tour visiting all 6 NE states and a redux Wakefield Day come mid-season, toward the end of the season and again in Oct. should the team make the play-offs. Also, when entering the gates at Fenway this summer, please remember to sign the petition to rename the Cy Young award...after dropping off your canned goods, donating $1 for something, a pair of clean, unused socks and paying another $15 to be designated by the Red Sox as being an 'official fan' by recieving a yellow sticky note that will read 'official fan', wear it with pride to every Tim Wakefield Day in 2012.

[DWO]

Good luck to #49, and thanks for 17 awesome, heart-stopping years!

If there is ever someone who won't be in the baseball HOF who deserves their number retired...it's Wakefield.

[Sox Sweep Again]

VoteRiceIn, on 17 February 2012 - 01:44 PM, said:

My favorite Wakefield memory comes from game 5 of the 2004 ALCS, pitching in innings 12-14. Tek couldn't catch him for sh*t, every pitch was a heart attack.

Well, now that the Dentist is back in town, there'll no doubt be a Wakefield Day at Fenway, a parade, a Wakefield tour visiting all 6 NE states and a redux Wakefield Day come mid-season, toward the end of the season and again in Oct. should the team make the play-offs. Also, when entering the gates at Fenway this summer, please remember to sign the petition to rename the Cy Young award...after dropping off your canned goods, donating $1 for something, a pair of clean, unused socks and paying another $15 to be designated by the Red Sox as being an 'official fan' by recieving a yellow sticky note that will read 'official fan', wear it with pride to every Tim Wakefield Day in 2012.

My, got up on the cynical side of the bed today, eh? ;)

[Manny's PS2]

rominer, on 17 February 2012 - 01:32 PM, said:

I am glad that no Red Sox players ever used steroids, at least.

Hooray for Senator Mitchell and his auto-redactor of anything Boston! :)

[SoxAroundTheWorld]

Thanks for the memories, Timmah! I wish you had done this back in October, but even more fervently hope that the Sox do you right with (one) really nice send off. Am looking forward to his first ceremonial first pitch at Fenway - no doubt a flutterer the catcher will have no chance of corralling.

Can Tek be far behind...?

[The Ghost of Ned Martin]

Tim Wakefield is one of my all-time favorite Red Sox players. His retirement speech may have been the most classy I have ever witnessed. No one understood what the Red Sox mean to this region more than he did and no one ever sacrificed for the good of the team more than he. There are so many a-holes in sports who make it so hard to root for them. Tim Wakefield was a most notable exception.

I have put in way too much emotion, time and energy into rooting for a baseball time. That said, I am honored to have watched Tim through his entire Red Sox career and he represented this franchise as well as any player who ever wore the uniform has.

Thanks #49. You always gave everything you had and you will always be loved by Sox fans.

This post has been edited by The Ghost of Ned Martin: 18 February 2012 - 09:15 AM

[rominer]

You just like him because he's one of the few players who is old enough to not be your grandson.

But the other stuff was well said.

It was sad watching that press conference. He found a way to make it "going out on his terms," but it really wasn't. And I think if the team got that 200th win for him in any of the first several tries, when he was actually pitching well, rather than dragging it out until the part of the season when he wasn't pitching well…obviously so many things would have been different for the 2011 Red Sox. But I think maybe different for Wakefield, too.

[ghostoffoxx]

"Yeah, ever since I've been here, I've always been that type of player that I always have my spikes on, no matter what. I've been used to pinch-hit a couple of times, I've been used in the emergency relief duty. I just feel like as an athlete, you've got to be prepared for anything that may be thrown at you at any particular point in the game."

He has been and will be one of my favorite Red Sox players. Here's to a well deserved ride off into the sunset...
/unapologetic fanboy

[CTLovesTheSox]

Thanks #49. Heck of a career.

There will be no mystery as to who is throwing out the 1st pitch at the home opener this year.

[Kid T]

MrNewEngland, on 17 February 2012 - 12:29 PM, said:

Probably a good thing for the 2012 Red Sox... but I really wanted to see him get the all time Red Sox wins record. Also he wasn't he just shy of getting on a couple lists (like innings pitched, strikeouts, or something like that)?

I didn't. I get the feeling we would have had to endure some pretty ugly outings to see him reach these "achievements".

Quote

we wouldn't have won without him in '04 when he gave up his game 4 start to go to pitch out of the bullpen in game 3.

Best of luck, Timmah.

I wholeheartedly concur. I also remember watching him pitch his first year in a Red Sox uni, marveling at how well he was able to finesse that knuckler into the strike zone while making hitters look silly. It's a shame he never had a 20-win season.

DWO, on 17 February 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

If there is ever someone who won't be in the baseball HOF who deserves their number retired...it's Wakefield.

Hyperbole at its' finest! Can't we just acknowledge him as a great team mate and contributor who would probably make the Hall of Classy Guys Who Had Some Pretty Good Years?

[BigSlick]

Kid T, on 18 February 2012 - 05:47 PM, said:

Hyperbole at its' finest! Can't we just acknowledge him as a great team mate and contributor who would probably make the Hall of Classy Guys Who Had Some Pretty Good Years?

I think that Wake and Dwight Evans are perfect examples of the flaw in the Red Sox retired number rule. Having your number retired by a team should be a great honor, but less than being honored by all of baseball by making the HoF.

[Kid T]

BigSlick, on 18 February 2012 - 06:21 PM, said:

I think that Wake and Dwight Evans are perfect examples of the flaw in the Red Sox retired number rule. Having your number retired by a team should be a great honor, but less than being honored by all of baseball by making the HoF.

The difference being, Evans (at least in my opinion and that of Bill James, is a legitimate HOF candidate

[BigSlick]

Kid T, on 20 February 2012 - 05:39 PM, said:

The difference being, Evans (at least in my opinion and that of Bill James, is a legitimate HOF candidate

I know about the James article. I started a thread because of it.

But whether Evans is a legitimate HOF candidate is irrelevant to my point. I feel that having your number retired by one team is a lesser acknowledgement of your career than making the HOF is. With that said, why should being in the HOF be a prerequisite for having your number retired? If anything it should be the other way around.

[Edmund Dantes]

He could still make it up there. Remember Pesky got his number retired. I'm pretty sure he's not in the hall of fame.