Knuckler buckled, but held
Knuckleball pitchers such as Hoyt Wilhelm, the Niekro brothers, and Charlie Hough had some excellent seasons when they neared, and even passed, age 40.
The Red Sox' Tim Wakefield, who turns 39 Aug. 2, hopes the same is true for him.
Yesterday Wakefield limited the Devil Rays to a run and four hits in six innings. He picked up his second win of the season and the Sox have won all three of his starts, two against the dreaded Yankees.
So far, Wakefield is pitching like he did when the Red Sox took a chance and signed him in April 1995 after the Pirates gave up on him. He joined the Sox after a brief visit to Pawtucket and was Mr. Unhittable, going 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA in 27 starts.
"He's been very good to start the year, that's for sure," said manager Terry Francona. "I know two years ago he was one of the most consistent pitchers in the league start-to-start. Last year that wasn't the case. I thought he might have been almost the most unlucky pitcher last year of anybody. But that doesn't matter anymore."
Wakefield frustrated the Devil Rays with his adventurous knuckler, striking out five and walking three. He yielded a leadoff double to Carl Crawford in the first, and after a bunt single by Julio Lugo, Tampa Bay had runners on second and third with no outs. But Wakefield struck out Alex Sanchez, got Aubrey Huff to line to Kevin Millar at first, then whiffed designated hitter Josh Phelps to end the inning.
In the second, the Devil Rays scored their only run. Wakefield yielded a leadoff double to Travis Lee, who moved to third on a fly to center by Jorge Cantu (Johnny Damon lost the ball in the sun but recovered to get the out).
Wakefield nearly got out of that jam unscathed, too. After walking Charles Johnson, he struck out Alex Gonzalez. But Crawford singled to center to drive in Lee.
"When you've got runners on second and third with nobody out, you're pretty much expecting to give up a run there," said Wakefield. "I was fortunate enough to strike out Sanchez to get an out, then Huff [lined] out and then I was able to strike out Phelps. I was very fortunate. The defense did a great job today."
After the second, Wakefield was rock solid. He gave up only two walks and no hits in the last four innings.
"He was real consistent with his knuckleball, throwing a lot of strikes," said catcher Doug Mirabelli. "He's in that groove right now. Just seems like every pitch is a quality pitch. He hasn't thrown any bad ones up there. You can tell he has it. Even warming up in the bullpen, he's been outstanding. It's one of those things where he knows what he's doing."
And he reached several milestones along the way.
He passed Hall of Famer Cy Young on the Red Sox all-time strikeout list. He now has 1,343, two more than Young. Only Roger Clemens (2,590) and Pedro Martinez (1,683) have struck out more opposing batters as Sox.
Wakefield now has 116 victories, seventh on the Sox' all-time list, one more than Bob Stanley and one fewer than Martinez and Smoky Joe Wood.
"It means a lot to me," said Wakefield. "I feel very fortunate to be here, and it means a lot that I am able to reach these milestones. I've been a Red Sox almost my whole career; I was only in Pittsburgh about a year and half. I take a lot of pride in wearing that uniform every day, and [of having] my name mentioned with greats like Cy Young and Roger and Pedro."
