Tim Wakefield, baseball player, 1992-2011

Tim Wakefield

Born: 8/2/1966 in Melbourne, FL, USA

Died: 10/1/2023 in Hingham, MA, USA

MLB Debut: 1992-07-31 | Final Game: 2011-09-25

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'2" | Weight: 210 lbs

Full name: Timothy Stephen Wakefield

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Biography

Tim Wakefield was a prominent pitcher in Major League Baseball, known for his unique knuckleball and longevity in the sport. Born in 1966, Wakefield’s professional career spanned from 1992 to 2011, during which he established himself as a reliable arm for teams, most notably the Boston Red Sox. He finished his career with a record of 200-180, an earned run average (ERA) of 4.41, and tallied 2,156 strikeouts alongside 22 saves. His ability to confound hitters with his unpredictable knuckleball made him a valuable asset on the mound, particularly in an era when power pitching was increasingly dominant. Wakefield's contributions to the game were recognized throughout his career, highlighted by his selection as the TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year and earning an All-Star selection. His dedication and resilience allowed him to remain competitive well into his 40s, embodying the spirit of perseverance that characterized his time in the league. Wakefield played a key role in the Red Sox’s historic 2004 World Series championship, which ended an 86-year title drought for the franchise. His legacy is marked not only by his individual achievements but also by his influence on the game as one of the last successful knuckleballers in an era where such pitchers became increasingly rare.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
200 180 627 463 33 6 22 3226.3 3152 1582 418 1205 2156 4.41 0

Career ERA 4.41 vs. league average 4.36 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1992 PIT NL 8 1 13 13 4 1 0 92.0 76 22 35 51 2.15 3.75 (+43%) 1108.9
1993 PIT NL 6 11 24 20 3 2 0 128.3 145 80 75 59 5.61 4.19 (-34%) -4149.5
1995 BOS AL 16 8 27 27 6 1 0 195.3 163 64 68 119 2.95 4.45 (+34%) -409.0
1996 BOS AL 14 13 32 32 6 0 0 211.7 238 121 90 140 5.14 4.61 (-12%) -5617.9
1997 BOS AL 12 15 35 29 4 2 0 201.3 193 95 87 151 4.25 4.39 (+3%) -1594.5
1998 BOS AL 17 8 36 33 2 0 0 216.0 211 110 79 146 4.58 4.43 (-3%) -2554.2
1999 BOS AL 6 11 49 17 0 0 15 140.0 146 79 72 104 5.08 4.71 (-8%) -1275.0
2000 BOS AL 6 10 51 17 0 0 0 159.3 170 97 65 102 5.48 4.77 (-15%) -3754.9
2001 BOS AL 9 12 45 17 0 0 3 168.7 156 73 73 148 3.90 4.42 (+12%) 2193.6
2002 BOS AL 11 5 45 15 0 0 3 163.3 121 51 51 134 2.81 4.28 (+34%) 2789.4
2003 BOS AL 11 7 35 33 0 0 1 202.3 193 92 71 169 4.09 4.40 (+7%) 1740.3
2004 BOS AL 12 10 32 30 0 0 0 188.3 197 102 63 116 4.87 4.46 (-9%) -2997.6
2005 BOS AL 16 12 33 33 3 0 0 225.3 210 104 68 151 4.15 4.29 (+3%) -2710.6
2006 BOS AL 7 11 23 23 1 0 0 140.0 135 72 51 90 4.63 4.53 (-2%) -1460.6
2007 BOS AL 17 12 31 31 0 0 0 189.0 191 100 64 110 4.76 4.47 (-6%) -957.6
2008 BOS AL 10 11 30 30 1 0 0 181.0 154 83 60 117 4.13 4.32 (+5%) -2445.0
2009 BOS AL 11 5 21 21 2 0 0 129.7 137 66 50 72 4.58 4.32 (-6%) -852.2
2010 BOS AL 4 10 32 19 0 0 0 140.0 153 83 36 84 5.34 4.08 (-31%) -1591.9
2011 BOS AL 7 8 33 23 1 0 0 154.7 163 88 47 93 5.12 3.94 (-30%) -4183.2

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
630 111 4 13 2 0 1 4 0 3 47 0.117 0.148 0.162 0.310 0.0

Career AVG .117 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — 55.8% below league average.

Career OBP .148 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 55.7% below league average.

Career SLG .162 vs. league average .418 across their career seasons — 61.2% below league average.

Career OPS 0.310 vs. league average 0.752 across their career seasons — 58.8% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1992 PIT NL 14 28 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 0.071 — — — — 0.0
1993 PIT NL 24 43 3 7 2 0 1 3 0 0 11 0.163 — — — — 0.0
1995 BOS AL 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1996 BOS AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1997 BOS AL 35 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1998 BOS AL 37 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0.000 — — — — 0.0
1999 BOS AL 49 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2000 BOS AL 52 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2001 BOS AL 45 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.333 — — — — 0.0
2002 BOS AL 45 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2003 BOS AL 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2004 BOS AL 32 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2005 BOS AL 33 8 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0.250 — — — — 0.0
2006 BOS AL 23 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2007 BOS AL 31 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2008 BOS AL 30 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2009 BOS AL 21 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.500 — — — — 0.0
2010 BOS AL 32 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0.000 — — — — 0.0
2011 BOS AL 33 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
18 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2008 ALCS BOS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2007 ALCS BOS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2005 ALDS1 BOS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2004 ALCS BOS 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2004 WS BOS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2003 ALCS BOS 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2003 ALDS2 BOS 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1999 ALDS1 BOS 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1998 ALDS1 BOS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1995 ALDS1 BOS 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1992 NLCS PIT 2 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
5 7 18 11 0 72.0 68 54 38 54 6.75

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2008 ALCS BOS 0 1 1 1 0 2.7 6 5 2 2 16.88
2007 ALCS BOS 0 1 1 1 0 4.7 5 5 2 7 9.64
2005 ALDS1 BOS 0 1 1 1 0 5.3 6 4 1 4 6.75
2004 ALCS BOS 1 0 3 0 0 7.3 9 7 3 6 8.59
2004 WS BOS 0 0 1 1 0 3.7 3 5 5 2 12.27
2003 ALCS BOS 2 1 3 2 0 14.0 8 4 6 10 2.57
2003 ALDS2 BOS 0 1 2 1 0 7.7 6 3 3 7 3.52
1999 ALDS1 BOS 0 0 2 0 0 2.0 3 3 4 4 13.50
1998 ALDS1 BOS 0 1 1 1 0 1.3 3 5 2 1 33.75
1995 ALDS1 BOS 0 1 1 1 0 5.3 5 7 5 4 11.81
1992 NLCS PIT 2 0 2 2 0 18.0 14 6 5 7 3.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 627 463 227 329 30 29

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1992 PIT P 13 13 6 19 0 1
1993 PIT P 24 20 8 15 4 2
1995 BOS P 27 27 15 18 2 4
1996 BOS P 32 32 14 18 2 4
1997 BOS P 35 29 9 22 3 1
1998 BOS P 36 33 16 23 3 1
1999 BOS P 49 17 7 12 1 1
2000 BOS P 51 17 11 11 2 2
2001 BOS P 45 17 14 22 2 0
2002 BOS P 45 15 9 9 1 4
2003 BOS P 35 33 16 19 1 0
2004 BOS P 32 30 12 27 4 1
2005 BOS P 33 33 30 20 2 2
2006 BOS P 23 23 13 12 0 1
2007 BOS P 31 31 14 22 0 3
2008 BOS P 30 30 7 15 1 1
2009 BOS P 21 21 10 11 0 1
2010 BOS P 32 19 9 15 2 0
2011 BOS P 33 23 7 19 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 627

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
2010 Roberto Clemente Award
1996 Player of the Week Week of 1996-08-10
1995 Pitcher of the Month July
1995 Player of the Week Week of 1995-06-03
1995 TSN Comeback Player of the Year
1992 TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
2011 BOS AL $2,000,000
2010 BOS AL $3,500,000
2009 BOS AL $4,000,000
2008 BOS AL $4,000,000
2007 BOS AL $4,000,000
2006 BOS AL $4,000,000
2005 BOS AL $4,670,000
2004 BOS AL $4,350,000
2003 BOS AL $4,000,000
2002 BOS AL $3,200,000
2001 BOS AL $3,000,000
2000 BOS AL $4,500,000
1999 BOS AL $4,000,000
1998 BOS AL $3,500,000
1997 BOS AL $2,500,000
1996 BOS AL $450,000
1995 BOS AL $175,000
1993 PIT NL $150,000
Total Career Earnings $55,995,000

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne FL 1986, 1987, 1988

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1995 Cy Young Award AL 3rd 29.0 140 0
1995 Most Valuable Player AL 13th 20.0 392 0
1992 Rookie of the Year NL 3rd 29.0 120 2