On Sunday, the Red Sox issued a statement on his death. According to former teammate Curt Schilling, Wakefield had brain cancer. As legendary Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield has dies at 57. Wakefield had illness.
Said Red Sox manager and ex-teammate Alex Cora on Sunday: “We lost a brother, a teammate, a family member. One of the best teammates I ever had. … Of all the guys I played with, nobody wore his jersey with more pride than Tim Wakefield.”
Wakefield, a native of Florida. He was drafted as a third baseman by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1988. When he realized he couldn’t make it as a position player. After that he began working on a knuckleball and switched to pitcher in 1990. His major-league debut came in 1992 with a fantastic season. Wakefield career with the Pirates dwindled by 1995 and then released.
Wakefield joined the Red Sox a few days later and immediately became a team staple. He was a member of the historic, curse-breaking 2004 World Series squad. Also as well as the 2007 championship team in Boston for 17 years. Wakefield has 430 starts and 3,006 innings pitched with the Red Sox. He ranks second in franchise history with 590 appearances and 2,046 strikeouts. Wakefield is the first player in franchise history to appear in a game at the age of 44 or older. He owns the Fenway Park record for most starts and innings pitched, with 216 starts and 1,553 innings.
On his podcast, Schilling stated that Wakefield had brain cancer and that Wakefield’s wife, Stacy, had pancreatic cancer. He encouraged listeners to pray for them and their children. The news soon circulated on social media, with the Red Sox and numerous of Wakefield’s former teammates presumably angry that Schilling had revealed the information without permission.
Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a first baseman who set home run records in college. Wakefield converted to a pitcher after mastering the knuckleball in the minor leagues after learning the pitch from his father as a kid.
Wakefield was nominated seven times for the Roberto Clemente Award for sportsmanship and community service before winning it in 2010. He was the team’s first Jimmy Fund captain, visiting patients and raising funds for the juvenile cancer charity, as well as the honorary chairman of the Red Sox Foundation.
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