Tim Wakefield… Tis the Season to be Thankful for Those Who ARE Here |

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Tim Wakefield… Tis the Season to be Thankful for Those Who ARE Here

By Administrator | December 23, 2005

Amid all the commotion and consternation caused by Mssrs Boras and Damon around the Hub this week — all because neither of them picked up the phone to say “we’re going to the Yankees unless you’ve got one final offer” — let’s spend Christmas weekend contemplating one of the players we DO have on our roster.

This morning, be thankful that the Boston Red Sox have Tim Wakefield on the team… a guy who took less money to be here… a guy who wanted to be here so much that he signed a deal with a series of one-way (Red Sox) options to stay here. It seems apparent that Tim (and his wife Stacy) love the City of Boston, so it is no small wonder why the City loves them back.

The Wakefields made an unannounced visit to the Franciscan Hospital for Children yesterday… in the spirit of the holiday season… for the kids. It wasn’t about self-aggrandisement or press ops, it was about bringing joy to children in the hospital. They came bringing Red Sox hats, autographed photos, Toys ”R” Us gift cards ($100) — all stuffed into an over-sized red stocking (appropriate for a Red Sox pitcher at Christmas, don’t you thiink?). Oh yeah, and they brought a check for $15,100.

Later in the day, the Wakefields gave a check for the same amount to the Jimmy Fund Clinic… where he distibuted hats for the kids fighting cancer, more Toys ”R” Us gift cards, and LOTS of warmth and laughter. At one point, he got on a cellphone to chat with a young patient’s sister.

You see, last April Tim pledged a donation to both medical facilities, which specialize in treating children, for every strikeout of the 2005 season. He struck out 151 batters… and at $100 a pop his donation equaled $15,100.

Tim Wakefield is a warm, genuine, civic-minded man of his word… he is one of the true gems on Yawkey Way.

He is unlike other rich Red Sox players who live in penthouses and cannot wait to leave the City… a player who pledged to start a foundation with some of his $200 million and then failed to live up to his commitment…

He is unlike a former Red Sox outfielder who said they would never play in pinstripes only to defect to the Yankees this week (a decision it says here he will live to regret… just like Fred Lynn and Bruce Hurst and Mo Vaughn and other former Red Sox lived to regret their departures from the City).

Tim Wakefield is the anti-Manny… the anti-Johnny. He is the exception to the rule. When he says he is going to do something, you can take it to the bank.

And you can bank on him doing a lot more than what he SAYS he is going to do… because sometimes he just does things he wants to do without announcing it to the world. Talk is cheap.

Tim Wakefield is PRICELESS!

So on this blessed Christmas weekend, I will contemplate the many blessings Red Sox fans have had bestowed upon them. I will be thankful for the day in 1994 when Tim Wakefield signed on to the Red Sox franchise. I will remember that players such as Tim and Curt and Gabe make this region a MUCH better place in which to live.

And I will pray that Tim and Stacy ALWAYS split their time between Melbourne, FL (their winter home) and Boston, MA.

Topics: Sox Players |

3 Responses to “Tim Wakefield… Tis the Season to be Thankful for Those Who ARE Here”

eeka Says:
December 23rd, 2005 at 1:15 pm
Aw! That’s really really touching. I did my clinical training at Franciscan. That’s so wonderful to hear.
bostonian71 Says:
December 23rd, 2005 at 4:23 pm
I’ve always liked Wakefield. Not only is he a great guy to have on the team (a pitcher who will start, close, set up, whatever you ask him to do), but he’s a great guy, period. Give me Wake over Damon’s hair and headlines anyday.
Susan911 Says:
December 29th, 2005 at 1:26 pm
Thank you soooo much for putting into words exactly what Tim Wakefield means to so many of us. He is a remarkable man who loves baseball, but practices the Golden Rule. We are truly blessed to have him in Boston. I am also grateful that he married a woman with the same ethics that he has. She is a wonderful woman as well.