No joke: Wakefield headed to St. Louis

Terry Francona will never be mistaken for an actor. He tried to pull one off on Tim Wakefield on Sunday before the game with the Mariners.

While five Red Sox players were being called into Francona’s office to get the official word they were headed to St. Louis for the Midsummer Classic on July 14, Wakefield was upstairs working out.

Then he got the call from John Farrell to go downstairs.

“It was pretty funny,” Wakefield recalled. “I was actually in the weight room doing my work and (John) Farrell had come in and said Tito wants to see you after he talks to the other (All-Stars). I didn’t know what he was talking about at first. Then I got down to his office and the office was closed. When it opened he called me into his office and I saw all the other guys walking out with their All-Star packages. He sat me down and tried to play it off like it wasn’t good news. He couldn’t hold his laughter in any longer and finally told me that I had made the team, too.”

So, after 17 years the Red Sox knuckleballer is headed to an All-Star Game. He becomes the second oldest pitcher to make it. He will turn 43 on Aug. 2. Satchel Paige was 46 when he made his first in 1952.

“I didn’t know what to expect going in there after I saw the guys walking out but after he told me, I’m very happy today,” Wakefield said. “It’s been a long time.”

This has been a landmark season of sorts for Wakefield. In his last start, on Friday, he made his 383rd start in a Red Sox uniform, passing Roger Clemens for first on the team’s all-time list.

“That was one of the funner things I’ve gotten to do since I’ve been here,” Francona said of his pre-game sitdown with Wake. “I tried to have a little fun expense. I didn’t handle it very well. I just cheesed up real fast.”

Wakefield earned the trip by posting a 10-3 mark in 16 starts for a team that leads the A.L. East.

“I tried not to (think about the selection) but it’s kind of hard not to think about it,” Wakefield said. “It’s one of those things where you know the announcement is going to come today. I feel very honored and humbled, at the same time, excited and nervous.”

“He’s meant so much not just to major league baseball, but to the Red Sox for sure. And to be able to see his face, he’s going to show up in St. Louis and next week when they introduce his name, he’s going to be one of the proudest guys,” Francona said.

Wakefield’s teammates are pretty excited and proud as well.

“I’m pretty pumped about that decision,” Jon Lester said. “I’m glad that the people in charge of that decision made a good decision about it. It would have been kind of sad to see if he didn’t make it.”

“It’s great that Wake made it for the first time,” added Kevin Youkilis. “He was real excited about making it. It’s just such a great thing to see a guy at his age who’s been around this game so long have the opportunity to enjoy something so great in your career.”