Is Tim Wakefield Destined for Cooperstown?

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield was selected last week as an American League All-Star for the first time in his improbable 18-year-career.

The great knuckleballer will also participate in Major League Baseball’s Midsummer Classic next Tuesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

Wakefield (10-3, 4.30 ERA), a two-time World Series champion and the 1995 AL Comeback Player of the Year, has won 174 games for the Red Sox, since he was acquired by the team in 1995.

The native of Melbourne, Florida currently ranks third behind legends Cy Young and Roger Clemens for the most wins in the history of the Red Sox storied franchise.

Wakefield, a solid individual who has been nominated seven-times for the Roberto Clemente Award for his generous charitable contributions off of the field, began his minor league career as a corner infielder for Watertown of the New York-Penn League.

However, once a scout essentially told him that his skills on the diamond blew and he would likely never ascend further than Double-A ball, the crafty veteran started to develop one of the most dominant knuckleballs in the annals of baseball.

At the time, Wakefield, who is 188-160 with a 4.32 ERA in his career pitching for the Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates, stated, “I just wanted to be able to say I tried everything I could to make it.”

Because of the reduced strain on a knuckleballer's arm, Wakefield, the second-oldest first-time All-Star at 42, could continue to perform at this elite level for many more years to come.

In 2005, Wakefield agreed to a unique $4 million, one-year “rolling” contract that provides the Sox with the option of keeping their longest-tenured player in Beantown for the remainder of his career.

At this juncture, despite his inflated age, nothing indicates that Wakefield won’t be a steady force on the mound well into the next decade.

As mentioned previously, Wakefield “just wanted to be able to say (he) tried everything (he) could to make it.”

Although unlikely, at this pace, Wakefield could “make it” the entire distance from Yawkey Way to Cooperstown.

*This Article Is Written in Loving Memory of Chris Naghski…A Great Man and an even Better Friend