Tim Wakefield

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Full Name: Timothy Stephen Wakefield	Current Team: Boston Red Sox
Height/Weight: 6'2"/210	Number: 49
Birthdate: August 2, 1966	Entry Draft: 8th round (200th) in 1988
Birthplace: Melbourne, Florida	Drafted By: Pittsburgh Pirates
Position: SP	College: Florida Tech

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Biography

Born on August 2, 1966 in Melbourne, Florida, Tim Wakefield (Timothy Stephen Wakefield) played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox over the course of his 14 year career. Wakefield broke into the bigs on July 31, 1992 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and put up a 2.15 ERA in 92 innings pitched in 1992, his rookie year.

There is some disagreement on what was Tim Wakefield's most productive season. Some believe that it was 1995, when he posted a 2.95 ERA, won 16 games and struck out 119 batters. However, others believe that it was 2002, when he posted a 2.81 ERA, won 11 games and struck out 134 batters.

Wakefield lives and dies by his top pitch, the knuckleball. His "fastball" is the slowest in the major leagues. He's currently the only pitcher in baseball to use the knuckler as his premier pitch. It's hard to say that he has control of the pitch, as even he doesn't know how it's going to act once it leaves his hand, but he is confident enough with it to throw it in any count. And he keeps his walk rate at an acceptable level.

The elder statesman for the Sox is currently in his 12th season with the team. Wakefield. It's kind of ironic that the guy whose pitches are so inconsistent has been the most consistent player on the team for a long time. Used in the bullpen and in the rotation, he has given the Sox at least 140 IP every year he has been on the team. He is 3rd on the all-time Red Sox wins list with 132 and his 115 losses with the team are an all-time high. He's also second on the team's all-time list in games and walks and third in games started, innings pitched, and K's. His unique contract means that he will likely finish his career with Boston. Every year the Red Sox excercise his contractual option, a new option kicks in for the next year -- so the Red Sox can keep excercising the knuckler's option until he decides to retire.

Scouting Report

Statistics

Pitching Stats

Year	Team		G	GS	W	L	ERA	K	R	ER	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	IB	WP	HBP
1992	PIT	N	13	13	8	1	2.15	51	26	22	4	1	0	92	76	3	35	1	3	1
1993	PIT	N	24	20	6	11	5.61	59	83	80	3	2	0	128.1	145	14	75	2	6	9
1995	BOS	A	27	27	16	8	2.95	119	76	64	6	1	0	195.1	163	22	68	0	11	9
1996	BOS	A	32	32	14	13	5.14	140	151	121	6	0	0	211.2	238	38	90	0	4	12
1997	BOS	A	35	29	12	15	4.25	151	109	95	4	2	0	201.1	193	24	87	5	6	16
1998	BOS	A	36	33	17	8	4.58	146	123	110	2	0	0	216	211	30	79	1	6	14
1999	BOS	A	49	17	6	11	5.08	104	93	79	0	0	15	140	146	19	72	2	1	5
2000	BOS	A	51	17	6	10	5.48	102	107	97	0	0	0	159.1	170	31	65	3	4	4
2001	BOS	A	45	17	9	12	3.90	148	83	73	0	0	3	168.2	156	13	73	5	5	18
2002	BOS	A	45	15	11	5	2.81	134	57	51	0	0	3	163.1	121	15	51	2	5	9
2003	BOS	A	35	33	11	7	4.09	169	106	92	0	0	1	202.1	193	23	71	0	8	12
2004	BOS	A	32	30	12	10	4.87	116	121	102	0	0	0	188.1	197	29	63	3	9	16
2005	BOS	A	33	33	16	12	4.15	151	113	104	3	0	0	225.1	210	35	68	4	8	11
2006	BOS	A	23	23	7	11	4.63	90	80	72	1	0	0	140	135	19	51	0	6	10
2007	BOS	A	31	31	17	12	4.76	110	104	100	0	0	0	189	191	22	64	1	10	4
Total	NL		37	33	14	12	4.17	110	109	102	7	3	0	220.1	221	17	110	3	9	10
Total	AL		474	337	154	134	4.35	1680	1323	1260	22	3	22	2400.2	2324	320	902	26	83	140
Total			511	370	168	146	4.33	1790	1432	1262	29	6	22	2621	2545	337	1012	29	92	150

Fielding Stats

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	PB	SB	CS	PkO	AVG
1992	PIT	N	P	13	13	92	6	19	0	1	4	4	9	3	1.000
1993	PIT	N	P	24	20	128.1	8	15	4	2	5	8	5	2	.852
1995	BOS	A	P	27	27	195.1	15	18	2	4	13	13	8	3	.943
1996	BOS	A	P	32	32	211.2	14	18	2	4	10	30	1	1	.941
1997	BOS	A	P	35	29	201.1	9	22	3	1	21	25	18	3	.912
1998	BOS	A	P	36	33	216	16	23	3	1	22	24	8	0	.929
1999	BOS	A	P	49	17	140	7	12	1	1	22	35	6	0	.950
2000	BOS	A	P	51	17	159.1	11	11	2	2	17	31	2	0	.917
2001	BOS	A	P	45	17	168.2	14	22	2	0	16	32	11	2	.947
2002	BOS	A	P	45	15	163.1	9	9	1	4	13	21	7	0	.947
2003	BOS	A	P	35	33	202.1	16	19	1	0	14	23	8	0	.972
2004	BOS	A	P	32	30	188.1	12	26	4	1	15	33	8	2	.905
2005	BOS	A	P	33	33	225.1	30	20	2	2	9	18	7	1	.962
2006	BOS	A	P	23	23	140	13	12	0	1	18	24	4	2	1.000
2007	BOS	A	P	31	31	189	14	22	0	3	6	41	8	0	1.000
Total			P	511	370	2621	194	268	27	27	205	362	110	19	.945

Batting Stats

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	BB	SO	HBP	SH
1992	PIT	N	14	28	0	2	0	0	.071	.103	.071	0	1	9	0	4
1993	PIT	N	24	43	3	7	1	3	.163	.163	.279	2	0	11	0	4
1995	BOS	A	27	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
1996	BOS	A	32	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
1997	BOS	A	35	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
1998	BOS	A	37	2	0	0	0	0	.000	.333	.000	0	1	2	0	2
1999	BOS	A	49	3	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	3	0	0
2000	BOS	A	52	2	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	2	0	1
2001	BOS	A	45	3	0	1	0	0	.333	.333	.333	0	0	2	0	1
2002	BOS	A	45	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
2003	BOS	A	35	0	0	0	0	0	.000	1.000	.000	0	0	0	1	0
2004	BOS	A	32	2	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	1	0	0
2005	BOS	A	33	8	1	2	0	1	.250	.250	.250	0	0	2	0	1
2006	BOS	A	23	4	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	3	0	0
2007	BOS	A	31	2	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	2	0	0
Total	NL		38	71	3	9	1	3	.127	.139	.197	2	1	20	0	8
Total	AL		476	27	1	3	0	1	.111	.172	.111	0	1	17	1	5
Total			511	98	4	12	1	4	.122	.149	.173	2	2	37	1	13

Transactions

Selected by Pittsburgh Pirates in the 8th round of the free-agent draft (June 1, 1988 - signed June 3, 1988).
Released by Pittsburgh Pirates (April 20, 1995).
Signed by Boston Red Sox (April 26, 1995).
Granted free agency (November 1, 2000).
Signed by Boston Red Sox (December 7, 2000).

Trivia

Wakefield is the last rookie pitcher to throw 2 complete games in the postseason. He did it with the 1992 Pittsburgh Pirates.
Wakefield gave up the famous walk-off homer to New York Yankees' Aaron Boone in the 13th inning in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.

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Tim Wakefield

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