Tim Wakefield's Numbers Earn Him Spot in Red Sox History, But He'll Be Remembered Most for Off-Field Heroics - Boston Red Sox - NESN.com

Tim Wakefield's Numbers Earn Him Spot in Red Sox History, But He'll Be Remembered Most for Off-Field Heroics - Boston Red Sox - NESN.com

Baseball, at least in terms of history, is based almost solely on numbers.

The stats are what define the legacies of the game's all-time greats, with the numbers -- 755, 56, .406, etc. -- almost as famous as the players who posted them.

Longtime Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield will retire on Friday night, and while his numbers won't earn him a spot in Cooperstown, he will walk away with his name at or near the top of a lot of Red Sox pitching records.

He'll leave the Red Sox third all time in wins behind a couple of guys named Cy Young and Roger Clemens. He'll head out ranked second in club history in strikeouts. Five times Wakefield won at least 14 games. He threw 33 complete games.

Of course, longevity helps breed those numbers. The same reason Wakefield is at the top of those lists is the same reason that no one has ever allowed more home runs, walks hits or has suffered a loss more in a Red Sox uniform than Wakefield. Something must be said, both good and bad, for walking away as the franchise leader in all-time innings while racking up the second-most appearences.

The numbers are there, sure. They'll ensure that Wakefield will long be remembered as one of the most decorated pitchers in Red Sox history. The thing about Wakefield, however, is that he'll be remembered much longer for so much more than numbers.

Wakefield's greatest contribution to the Red Sox organization and the New England community will be for what he did away from the field, as opposed to what he did on a pitching mound.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a better teammate in any sport over the course of his career than Wakefield. Those that have played with Wakefield go out of their ways to attest to that. And why not? The examples are there over and over again.

In a sport where so many are criticized for being raised and groomed as the next big thing, Wakefield throughout his career showed multiple examples of selflessness that endeared him to a passionate fan base and a humble city. Whatever Wakefield was called on to do, he did it, and he often did it well.

He was there to step in during the 1999 season when the Sox needed a closer. The idea of a knuckleballer as a closer is one that many thought absurd, but Wakefield stepped in and did the job. He picked up 15 saves that season.

If you're going to talk about Wakefield's selflessness, there's no better example than the 2004 American League Championship Series. He was supposed to start Game 4 of the series against the Yankees, in what would have been a chance to avenge the horrific ending to the ALCS a year earlier when Aaron Boone tattooed a Wakefield knuckleball to give the Yankees the pennant. As it often happens in baseball, things didn't go according to script.

Bronson Arroyo was shellacked to start Game 3. The Yankees came out and knocked the right-hander all over the park. Ramiro Mendoza and Curtis Leskanic fared no better. Ever the consummate professional, Wakefield volunteered to work out of the bullpen -- foregoing his Game 4 start -- to help save the pen an..... CONT