Tropicana Knuckle Punch: Why Is There No Talk About Tim Wakefield?

With the ALDS a thing of the past and all the buzz now being focused on the ALCS, I have one question that no one else seems to be asking. Why is there no talk of Tim Wakefield pitching at Tropicana Field?

Wakefield has said in the past that he likes to pitch in dome stadiums, and he has 19 career wins against the Tampa Bay Rays. That is the most victories Tampa Bay has given up to a single pitcher and is a record Wakefield shares with Mike Mussina.

The current talk seems to be who is going to be the starter for Game One. Jon Lester just came off a big win over the Angels to claim their half of the ALDS and will most likely not start so he can get a full rest before having to go back out on the mound. 

Sox fans are more than confident in their ace left hander, who has a 0.00 ERA in his last 19.2 innings pitched in the postseason. Keep in consideration, however, this is Lester's first full season in the bigs, and Boston is unsure of how far they can push the youngster.

When you compare the combined 144.1 innings Lester tossed in the majors in 2006 and 2007, to the 210.1 innings he has already tossed this season, it is easy to see why Boston is walking on eggshells when it comes to seeing what he is capable of.

Josh Beckett pitched the night before Lester in a very surprising subpar performance for what we are used to seeing of Beckett in the postseason. However Beckett has been struggling with injuries throughout this season, most recently a strained right oblique muscle that had pushed his start from Game One of the ALDS to Game Three.

It could be argued that he was just a bit rusty and clearing out some cobwebs from his prolonged absence from the mound. Or some might argue his trouble to locate the strike zone on Sunday night could be contributed to him allegedly yelling at home plate umpire Kerwin Danley after the first inning and telling him to "get a clue." 

Regardless to what the reason might be, it's a little unclear at this point as to what to expect from Beckett.

Daisuke Matsuzaka seems to be the next, and currently the most likely, candidate to pitch Game One at Tropicana Field. Dice-K is the winningest pitcher on the Boston staff this season, having gone 18-3 in the regular season with 154 K's. Matsuzaka also finished the regular season with a 2.90 ERA, which was the seventh best ERA in the majors and the best ERA for the Red Sox.

Then there is my big question: What about Tim Wakefield? With a career 9-3 record and a 2.45 ERA at the Trop, and 10 more victories against the Rays away from St. Petersburg, you would think his name would be coming up more often.

I'm sure there are skeptics that are saying, "Yeah, but Wakefield got lit up by the Rays last time he took the mound at Tropicana Field."

There is no denying that fact, Wakefield only lasted 2.1 innings and gave up six hits and three home runs in that outing. But Joe Maddon, creative genius and Tampa Bay manager, said their game plan for Wakefield was to, "be patient and swing hard."

The Rays got to Wakefield early by being patient and swinging hard on Wakefield's curve ball and fastball, which comes in at a mere 66 MPH. And those were the majority of the pitches the Rays were able to connect with in that Sept. 17 matchup.

However if that is what you choose to base your argument off of, then you should realize you're basing a man's 16-year career off of one game. And in this case, we're not talking about Ray Finkle, we're talking about one of two thorns stuck in the side's of the Tampa Bay organization.

The bottom line is, Wakefield has beaten the Rays 19 times and nine of those were at Tropicana Field. In my opinion, those numbers are just too hard to ignore.