AJ Pierzynski's Emotional Tribute to Tim Wakefield | Foul Territory

Foul Territory pays tribute to Tim Wakefield, who tragically left the baseball world on October 1, 2023, at the young age of 57. We remember and honor his legacy.
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[@Sabercats12]

Tim Wakefield was one of the few professional athletes whose career I followed from days with Pittsburgh to his 17 years with Boston. Condolences to his family and friends 🙏 🙏🙏🙏

[@aaronburgess4442]

He was my favorite player of all time. I was a knuckleball pitcher in college & motivated me to live & die by the pitch.

[@anonuser1]

Yankee fan here. Wake was a class act and a magician on the mound. Worthy competitor who will be a permanent fixture in the amazing Boston community. So sad to learn.

[@captaincarl8230]

For those who don't remember, or will remember, it was Tim Wakefield who offered to pitch in the extra innings game 5 and gave up his chance to start in possible game 6 or 7. This was also after pitching in the extra innings game 4. I don't know if anyone today would make that same sacrifice. A real class act. RIP Wake & thank you.

[@michaelwelsh8957]

I am a born and bred New York Yankee fan. But I anyone who loves baseball--or humanity--loves Tim Wakefield. An authentic mensch. Rest in Peace Tim Wakefield.

[@spaceburger80]

Well said. Born and bred Sox fan who grew up in Albany. I’d feel exactly the same if this happened to any of the NYY 80s-00s greats: Bernie, Mattingly, Jete, Jorge, Petite, Moose, O’Neil… much love to the opposing team ✌️

[@trevway7082]

Only true knowledgeable fans of the game of baseball can get past a rivalry and notice great players on the rival team. Hats off to both of yall. RIP Tim. He was a inspiration to throw a knuckleball.

[@captaincarl8230]

@@trevway7082 Steinbrenner and many members of the Yankees team/front office also took their time away from other things to call in and donate during the Jimmy Fund telethons, including Jeter, Bernie Williams, Torre and others. Also, during the 2001 Red Sox homestand in which the Yankees were in town after the events of 9/11, the fans got up after the games that the Yankees won and sang "New York, New York". RIP Wake and thank you. My condolences to his family & friends. I know what they went through and now going through because my mother passed away in 2003 from brain cancer.

[@cam2ss1le14]

I have been a Red Sox fan since I was 6 years old. I grew up in Maine and idolized every Sox player, as any young baseball player would. Went to Fenway many times to see the boys play, and I will always remember those days. I'm 54 now and just learned of Tim's passing. Heartbreaking news, no doubt. My condolences to his family, the Red Sox, and baseball nation. Tim was an amazing person, on and off the field. He was the perfect example of how to live your life, always giving back and to lose him this quickly is horrible. Tim will be remembered for being a great man.

[@alexlegge]

RIP Tim Wakefield. Very classy guy. Heartfelt condolences to his family and friends, including AJ!

[@dannywest9256]

Man everyone that loves baseball loves Tim Wakefield. When Wake pitched and you could watch, as a baseball fan, your gonna watch and your loving it. Blown away by the utterly unique knuckleballer. Plus he was humble and genuine. He was also a part of that legendary, beautiful Red Sox team. RIP

[@klatuu1976]

Tim Wakefield was always fun to watch pitch, gone way way too soon.

[@JohnnyNiteTrain]

I saw Tim Wakefield pitch at a Buffalo Bisons game in 1992, when I was 13 years old. It was fun to watch him. Although I’m a Yankee fan, i genuinely felt bad for him giving up that Boone HR in the 11th in ‘03. RIP

[@krlm2280]

I've been watching Tim since I was a young teenager very sad for him to pass away rest in peace

[@bostoncityofchampions6581]

My daughter is a nurse at Boston Children's and she would relate stories about Wake showing up unexpectedly and unannounced, without fanfare, and spending time visiting with children, a lot of whom were terminally ill. She got to know him a little bit, saw him relate to the kids, saw him cry with the parents, and described just how much each one of those visits must have taken out of him. But he never stopped coming. He made people's lives better, not just because he was a Red Sox ballplayer, but because he cared, and the way he loved those kids. Hope he gets his rightful due in Cooperstown some day, but even if he doesn't, he will always be a Hall of Famer.

[@Bob-jv2st]

Thank you Tim for being a great role model. You made me ask more of myself❤

[@josephfuller7008]

Tim Wakefield was a class act all the way. He gave way more than he took.

[@duskopopov77]

Durable, reliable, a loyal friend, father and husband, he's going to be missed 😭

[@louisedavis]

From a yankees fan,my condolences to his family .RIP

[@bnegs521]

A Roberto Clemente award winner. What a good man. And what a career he had. From his days in Pittsburgh and all his years in Boston. RIP Wake 😢

[@jimeddinger5407]

Staggered by this. 😢 Thanks Wake for all the fantastic memories and for being so dedicated to the community.

[@frankrizzo7997]

The SOX should retire 49. R.I.P. Wake

[@Chameleox]

He deserves the honor, no doubt. One of my all time favorite players. Devil’s advocate: #49 is an important jersey number for knuckleballers (Wilhelm, Hough, Wakefield, and others). Maybe the Sox should reserve the number only for knuckleballers here on out?

[@sstills951]

@@Chameleox I don't think we will see any more knuckleballers anymore. I read somewhere that they are a dying breed.

[@afmartin2734]

Absolutely.

[@BostonBugsy]

Absolutely

[@sstills951]

Absolutely

[@matthew01234]

Wakefield's rookie season came in 1992. That season he posted an ERA of 2.15 and pitched 2 complete game shutouts in the NLCS. That's how his career started. Who does that their rookie season? A flash in the pan? Nope. Try a 200-game winner who finished his career with over 3,200 innings pitched and multiple world championships including the Red Sox curse breaking championship. He also earned a Roberto Clemente award for his incredible work off the field. When I think of the most recent knuckleballers in baseball I can only think of two. Tim Wakefield and R.A. Dickey. It's such a difficult skill to master I think we have to go all the way back to Phil Niekro to find the last true knuckleballer before Wakefield. Between Niekro and Dickey there is only one knuckleballer in all of baseball in my mind. That's Tim Wakefield.

[@714cjp]

Tom Candiotti and Charlie Hough

[@jamesgately3541]

He will be sorely missed by Red Sox Nation everywhere. God speed Tim

[@jacobrichardson1952]

Move over Jerry Remy, Tim Wakefield is coming in heaven. Coming from a Yankees fan, Tim was no joke when I first started watching him that knuckleball he used was dangerous.

[@annieg942]

Yes, Remdawg welcomed him with open arms into heaven. What a truly great, humble and genuine man. RIP Wake 🕊❤🙏

[@leroybrown-coco]

Never liked baseball very much then I started seeing these knuckleballers. Man it made me like the sport again. I would see the guys from the older guys. Then Tim and the older guys made that knuckle ball movie. Made me a guy that doesn't watch baseball that much really watch again. Always rooted for the Red Socks. Living in Florida didn't ever get to go to any games but if Tim was pitching I made it a point to watch. God Blessed him, please be with his Family. !!!

[@setaside2]

I was never a Boston Red Sox fan but I was always a Time Wakefield fan. I love knuckleballers, their controversy, their fate driven successes... They are the true ambassadors of baseball's humanity: unhittable when on, unbelievably bad when off... a fingernail and a crosswind could decide the game. Knucklers like Wake and RA Dickey are major players in my odd, assorted pantheon of sports heroes because, for them, every moment of play was up for grabs BUT, if they were in command, every wiffle pitch a drunk bumblebee eyeing the plate like a rum-sotted pirate... Well, the best hitters of a generation looked straight up fools. Joyously so. The little guy taming dragons. In the end, though, character is the foundation of legends: Tim was also known to be a very good human who knew how to charity with nobility and heart; a man of both achievement and privilege who understood what it really means to give back. True heroes understand reciprocity is never by rote. It's done simply because it's right. Solidarity with the Red Sox nation and the Wakefield family, this week. They lost one of the good ones. Thanks for always inspiring, Wakey, even in times of adversity. You are adored. RIP Tim Wakefield.

[@iamtman1]

RIP TIM. So tragic.

[@billgray3796]

A great guy ..Wake will be missed...

[@ByronWarfield]

I remember seeing Tim Wakefield before he was in Boston playing on a really talented Pittsburgh Pirates club. The last great knuckleballer. God Bless his soul, may he Rest In Peace. ☦️

[@billgray3796]

Truly

[@Roy-or6ev]

We baseball fans must also think of Tim's friend and fellow knuckleballer Charlie Hough. Like Tim and the Niekro brothers, Charlie hurled a great knuckleball. 😢

[@stevenweishaupt8591]

He Always took the ball even in unwinnable games. He will go down as one of the all-time great Red Sox players . RIP TIM WAKEFIELD.

[@joevialpando9296]

Very saddening loss of a great guy

[@laff000]

A couple of months ago I opened a box that I had in my attic for over 30 years. Items in it were wrapped in newspaper of the day. Looking over the sports page from August 1992 I found an article about the Pittsburgh pirates and their new knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield. WHAT A FIND. 😊

[@theinflationsituation8870]

Wakefield led by example. Rest in Peace KNUCKLE BALL KING

[@vibesmom]

Tim won the Roberto Clemente award which is the best honor in baseball in my opinion. He’s my favorite player.

[@user-dv6dg5gu6d]

Stand up tribute from AJ. 😞🙏🏼

[@josephhoffman8483]

Sox Nation lost the mlb king of the knuckle ball. And a true role model for the game. Kids and players should be inspired by how much of a professional he was. Wakefield was was baseball.😢

[@lisabobersky9266]

So sad!! RIP.

[@helena20000]

❤Tim Wakefield/"WAKE" #49🤗[@ Boston Red Sox]

[@stevenfanale4553]

Nobody should ever die young at all. We must absolutely find a cure for cancer right now!!!!!!!

[@KyleClarke-rs3rj]

There is a cure..you think to this day they havent found one? The government doesnt want us to have it..its called population control..they want ppl to die

[@sstills951]

Pharmaceutical companies wouldn't make money off of a cure for cancer. They profit off of the treatment. Very sad world we live in.

[@samsepiol05590]

@@KyleClarke-rs3rjSpotted the Republican 🫵🤡

[@samsepiol05590]

@@KyleClarke-rs3rjMAGA cultists are 0-700 in their conspiracy theories yet perpetually double down 😂

[@stevenh.390]

His Knuckleball was filthy. I remember watching countless games and commentators would say opposable hitters were told if it's High Let it Fly, If it's Low Let it Go. When they'd replay his pitch, No Spin on that ball, as a fan watching that pitch, just mind boggling. As a Red Sox fan I had a Nomar, Ortiz, Damon, Varitek, Lowell, Lester & a Wakefield Jersey. All favorite players of mine. What he did in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees, offering to stop the bleeding and save the bull pen for Game 4, just selfless. So, Red Sox to honor him, retire his Number 49 on 4-9 next year. Be only fitting. RIP Wake

[@sk-un5jq]

The greater tragedy is none of these guys has the faintest clue as to what could be causing these turbo cancers. And even if they did, they wouldn't dare say a word about it.

[@edwardmcmanus7496]

And today ..... 5 months later his bride passes away leaving behind 2 children. Just an awful deal . God the good die young too often.

[@Seigerootz]

RIP to a legend. I hope curt schilling goes to hell.

[@miniDrew4]

You seem so kind

[@alexlegge]

Re:Schilling, 75% of the BBWAA would probably vote him into hell if someone petitioned them to distribute ballots for that.

[@TheAcgtrs]

I couldn’t hate Curt Shilling, any more than I do, now… As a lifelong Sox fan, I cast aside CS’s politics, in deference of the bloody sock… CS’s disrespect, and disregard for Wake’s family’s wishes, to keep information private…, drops Shilling way below the line of decency… F him, and his selfishness…

[@KyleClarke-rs3rj]

You hate a man just for leaking information? Was it right? No but sheesh..gotta be a liberal 😂

[@pendrew]

💯

[@latinolawdog5067]

What are your thoughts on the guy who passed away, Tim Wakefield?

[@TheAcgtrs]

@@latinolawdog5067 i’m a grown ass man… And I was in tears. As a native New Englander, Wakefield was one of us, as we adopted him almost from day one, when he arrived in Boston.

[@latinolawdog5067]

@@TheAcgtrs that was beautiful. Next time, lead with that instead of a post about hate. Wakefield and his family deserve that.

[@JustMeELC]

So sad & infuriating this familiy's last baseball interaction before his death was that a-hole Curt Shilling devastating their privacy... something VERY important to him 😕