Tim Wakefield: Milestone Hunter
Posted on May 18, 2010
Filed Under 2010 Season | 2 Comments
Last week old man river Tim Wakefield notched the 2,000th strikeout of his career. Think about that number for a second. It puts him behind only three active pitchers in strikeouts: Jamie Moyer, Javier Vazquez and Andy Pettitte.
His 1,892 strikeouts in a Red Sox uniform puts him at 2nd place on the franchise list for most K’s. That isn’t the only record he is creeping up on as he only needs 17 more wins to tie Cy Young and Roger Clemens for most in club history (192).
Sure, he also owns the record for most walks allowed (1,021), home-runs given up (363), wild pitches (105), earned runs (1,333) and losses (152) but there is something to be said for the reliability that Tim Wakefield provides a manager. He has selflessly done anything that has been asked of him whether it be starting, long-relief in the bullpen, or even being a closer. There have been an insane amount of surgeries and procedures done just to keep a baseball in his hand. For every happy moment there have been a handful of moments that would have convinced lesser men to retire (Aaron Bleeping Boone? Being left off the ’07 World Series roster?) Not Wakefield though, he took it in stride and even signed a one-of-a-kind contract with the Red Sox that would have lasted until the end of time as long as both parties agreed.
In case you can’t tell, I’m a pretty big fan of Tim Wakefield. I am pulling for him to take over the lead in wins by a Boston player. Unfortunately, it’s not looking good. He hasn’t gotten a win since July 8, 2009. Last night he was only a few outs away until Jonathan Papelbon did something he hasn’t done in 22 straight regular season chances: he blew a save.
Yes, it’s frustrating to watch as a fan. Yes, we all want to smack Papelbon upside the head or yell at the offense when they don’t provide any run support. But you know what? It probably doesn’t matter to him how many wins he ends up with when he retires. The reason we love Tim Wakefield is because he is a classy stand-up guy and he puts his team first.
As the season goes on and the bullpen blows more leads, just try to keep one thing in mind: What would Tim Wakefield do?
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Wake is the MAN.
Wakey is my favorite player becuz of stuff like this!