Tim Wakefield
| Tim Wakefield | |
|---|---|
|
|
| - No. 49 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: August 2nd, 1966 Melbourne , United States 
|
|
| Strikes: Right | Throws: Right |
| Debut in Major League Baseball | |
| July 31, 1992 with the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Last MLB assignment | |
| September 25, 2011 at the Boston Red Sox | |
| MLB statistics (until the end of the 2012 season) |
|
| Win-loss | 200-180 |
| Earned Run Average | 4.41 |
| Strikeouts | 2.156 |
| Teams | |
|
|
|
| Awards | |
|
|
|
| Last update: July 15, 2013 | |
Timothy Stephen "Tim" Wakefield (born August 2, 1966 in Melbourne , Florida ) is a retired American baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball . Wakefield played the position of pitcher and was one of the rare knuckleball throwers.
Career
Pittsburgh Pirates
Wakefield was originally drafted as the first baseman by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1988 , but did not prove to be good enough for the level in Major League Baseball in this position . As a last resort, Wakefield retrained as a pitcher , specializing in the rarely thrown knuckleball . After he established himself in the minor leagues with this "flutterball", Wakefield made his debut in 1992, scored 8: 1 victories straight away and contributed to the strong season of the Pirates, which only won 3: 4 in the final of the National League Atlanta Braves lost. Wakefield pitched twice against Braves Ace pitcher Tom Glavine and won both games. In the following year 1993 Wakefield could not confirm his achievements and spent the entire 1994 season in the minor leagues before he was traded to the Boston Red Sox.
Boston Red Sox
Wakefield finally built on his strong rookie season in Boston, established himself with 16: 8 wins as the second best Red Sox pitcher after Roger Clemens and was third in the election for the Cy Young Award for the best thrower. In the next three years Wakefield won 41 games, until he slipped back into the second rank after the commitment of Pedro Martínez and was only used as a relief pitcher . In 1999 he “managed” a rare Uncaught Third Strike when one of the uncontrolled fluttering Knuckleballs slipped out of his catcher's glove after a third strike and was therefore invalid. In 2003 he came with the Red Sox to the American League final against arch-rivals New York Yankees when he experienced one of his bitterest games in Game 7: after the Red Sox lost a 5-2 lead in the 8th inning, Wakefield became Substituted as relief pitcher in the 10th inning at a score of 5: 5 and conceded the game-winning home run from Aaron Boone . The next year he took sporting revenge when he helped with several strong relief pitch bets against the Yankees that the Red Sox in turn won Game 7 against the Yankees and then won the 2004 World Series . The veteran remained a strong pitcher for the next three years, bringing in 40 wins and winning the 2007 World Series with the Red Sox . After scoring 11-5 wins in 2009 at the age of 42, he was elected to the All-Star Game for the first and only time. Wakefield pitched until 2011, before quitting at the age of 44 with exactly 200 games won.
Throwing technique
Wakefield was one of the rare knuckleball players in Major League Baseball. The speed of his pitch was a slow 100 km / h by professional standards, but spun so unpredictably that opposing batter had little chance of hitting the ball. Wakefield's secondary pitches were a 20 km / h faster fastball , a curveball and a knuckleball changeup that was 10 km / h slower than his regular knuckleball. Since he hardly needed quick pitches, he could play major league baseball up to the age of 44. He is one of only 114 pitchers (as of July 2013) who have 200 or more wins. Wakefield's unpredictable pitches also brought difficulties: his pitches hit opposing batsmen 186 times, so that he is # 7 in the all-time ranking in this negative statistic. In addition, Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek was so exasperated by catching Wakefield's spinning knuckleballs that Boston Reserve catcher Doug Mirabelli turned it into Wakefield's personal catcher.
Wakefield is the role model of Eri Yoshida , the first female pitcher in a Japanese professional league. She is also a knuckleball player.
Private life
Wakefield is married to his wife, Stacy, with whom he has two children. In his free time, he campaigns for disadvantaged children.
Web links
- Player information and statistics from MLB or ESPN or Baseball Reference or Fangraphs or The Baseball Cube or Baseball Reference (Minor League) (English)
- Tim Wakefield in the nndb (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wakefield, Tim |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wakefield, Timothy Stephen (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American baseball player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd August 1966 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Melbourne , Florida |