Red Sox only need to score 18 runs to secure Tim Wakefield's 200th career victory

[Article 15]

Tim Wakefield had been saying for weeks that it was more important for the Red Sox to win games and get closer to a postseason berth on the days he pitched than it was for him to reach his 200th career victory.

Never was that more the case than last night. The Sox returned to Fenway Park having lost five straight, an ill-timed skid that allowed the Tampa Bay Rays back into the wild-card race. The collapse became the talk of baseball.

Perhaps that was why, when the Sox finished off an 18-6 victory against the Blue Jays, every player followed Wakefield out of the clubhouse and back onto the field to celebrate. It was nothing too wild, just a little champagne and a lot of smiles.

Boston Red Sox - Red Sox’ Wakefield floating on air after milestone win - The Boston Globe

I don't know what I've said more over the years; "I'm sick of this guy, I wish he would go away" or "thank God Wake's around"

 

[Valerie]

http://www.usmessageboard.com/sports/185034-200.html#post4137181

The moment was spontaneous and remarkable, a reflection of what Tim Wakefield has meant to both a baseball team and a community for the better part of 17 seasons. Few milestones at Fenway Park have been commemorated with the enthusiasm of the knuckleballer’s 200th career victory.

Wakefield’s entire team embraced the moment, dousing the pitcher with champagne and then entreating him to return to the field, where a sellout crowd had remained at the ballpark several minutes after the conclusion of the game — and long after the pitcher’s departure — in order to congratulate the longest-tenured pitcher in Sox history.

It was far more than a celebration of a single win. Instead, it was the celebration of a career arc of a 45-year-old pitcher who — despite achieving a mastery of a dancing pitch in a fashion achieved by few in the history of the game — has always seemed a kind of baseball Everyman. After all, Wakefield throws his signature pitch in the 60s, and his fastball tops out in the mid-70s — something that makes him more accessible to fans than a pitcher who delivers his pitches with high-90s velocity.

And then, of course, there is Wakefield’s unassuming personality and remarkable history of charitable endeavors. Those traits have tied him to a region in unique fashion.

And so, there it was: The celebration of an unlikely career arc by a group of teammates and fans who respect Wakefield for everything that his career has been.

Full Count » A retrospective: Tim Wakefield’s journey to 200 wins

 

[manifold]

I'm happy for him.

But the Sox are still hurting, literally and figuratively. Even if they limp into the wildcard, and it appears they probably will, I see them getting bounced in the ALDS.

Go Pats! Go Bruins! Go Ce.. oh, nevermind.

 

[Article 15]

If Beckett is healthy they will have a decent shot to come out of the AL but they will still get smashed by Philly if they do.