Tim Wakefield is the oldest player to win a game for the Red Sox
Posted by Andy on September 9, 2010
Tim Wakefield started and won last night's game for the Red Sox against the Rays, and became the oldest player to win a game for Boston.
Here are the 10 oldest since 1920:
| Rk | Player | Age | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tim Wakefield | 44.037 | 2010-09-08 | BOS | TBR | W 11-5 | GS-5 ,W | 5.0 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | Dennis Eckersley | 43.349 | 1998-09-17 | BOS | BAL | W 3-2 | 9-9 ,W | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Tim Wakefield | 43.334 | 2010-07-02 | BOS | BAL | W 3-2 | GS-8 ,W | 8.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Dennis Eckersley | 43.314 | 1998-08-13 | BOS | MIN | W 8-7 | 7-7 ,BW | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Tim Wakefield | 43.310 | 2010-06-08 | BOS | CLE | W 3-2 | GS-8 ,W | 7.1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | Tim Wakefield | 43.294 | 2010-05-23 | BOS | PHI | W 8-3 | GS-8 ,W | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | Dennis Eckersley | 43.206 | 1998-04-27 | BOS | DET | W 6-5 | 8-8 ,W | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Dennis Eckersley | 43.194 | 1998-04-15 | BOS | OAK | W 4-3 | 9-9f ,W | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Earl Caldwell | 43.137 | 1948-08-24 | BOS | CLE | W 9-8 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | David Wells | 43.088 | 2006-08-16 | BOS | DET | W 6-4 | GS-7 ,W | 6.2 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
According to 98.5 The Sports Hub, Wakefield is the oldest all-time, not just since 1920. Cy Young pitched for the Red Sox through age 41. It's too bad--I was sort of hoping that Wakefield had beaten out Young and not Eckersley so I could make the joke "That's the only time Wakefield is going to see "Cy Young" next to his name!"
September 9th, 2010 at 9:41 am
Tim already owned the record for oldest Red Sox pitcher to START AND WIN a game.
I thought Tim would get some Cy Young votes his first season with the Pirates when he came up mid season and helped them to the Playoffs, but no.
But he did get some Cy Young votes his first year with the Red Sox WAY back in 1995.
September 9th, 2010 at 9:43 am
You could confirm that with PI by just looking for the oldest pitchers to pitch for the Sox in any season. Cy Young was the only Sox pitcher older than 38 prior to 1920.
September 9th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Love him. Hope he pitches until he is 50.
September 9th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Congrats to Wake! I love Knuckleball pitchers. So much fun to watch.
September 9th, 2010 at 10:34 am
As a Pirates fan, I still remember his first ML win...a complete game victory over the Cardinals back in '92. He struck out 10. It's amazing to think how far he's come and how long he's been pitching effectively.
September 9th, 2010 at 10:37 am
I remember Wakefield's debut too, but he didn't really enter my consciousness until he threw two completes games against the Braves in the 1992 NLCS.
September 9th, 2010 at 10:55 am
What a unique career - from washed out minor league infielder to LCS star to one of the longest careers in Red Sox pitching history.
I always forget how little time he spent with the Pirates, because he was so terrific in the 92 playoffs, so I tend to associate him with that. I was watching game 7 with a friend who is a rabid Pirates fan and he was yelling at Leyland to bring in Wakefield instead of Stan Belinda.
I just looked. Maybe his career wasn't so unique. Very reminiscent of Charlie Hough.
September 9th, 2010 at 10:58 am
And don't forget that he was sent back down to the minors in 1993 and spent all of 1994 down there until getting released and picked up by the Red Sox in 1995.
September 9th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
And don't forget his stint as the Red Sox closer in 1999. Always a nail-biting finish.
September 9th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Too bad he had that hiccup in '93/'94, though even if he had been effective then the Pirates would have shipped him out sooner rather than later. Still, good to see a "homie" do well.
They had the champagne and celebration all ready to go in the Pirates clubhouse but had to pack it all up and set up shop in the Braves locker room instead. Wakefield was to have been the MVP of the series. If only...
BTW that infamous pitch that Belinda threw to Cabrera was supposedly six inches off the plate and Cabrera had no business swinging at it. But, that's the way those things go, sometimes you just catch a break--for good or ill--and it has a major effect on your life thereafter.
I remember reading a golf book about a million years ago about and up-and-comer who was ahead of an established pro in an exhibition match when the pro hit a chip that hit some lump or imperfection on the green which directed his ball into the hole--when it shouldn't have. The younger guy was never the same after that. By the same token, maybe it wouldn't apply to someone as monomaniacal as Michael Jordan, but what if he doesn't hit that long buzzer-beater from the corner at NC? Could things have been different?
Life is full of that sort of thing.
Anyway, good going Timmy. I still remember the theme songs they made up for him on the local radio stations and where I used to drive to work while I heard them. My favorite was the overly repetitive but awfully fun "Knuckleball Wakefield." It's probably out there on the internet someplace...
September 9th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Wakefield had "Cy Young" next to his name a lot in 1995. He was the favorite for the award going into September, but the knuckleball, which had giveth until then, suddenly tooketh away. 🙂 He still got enough votes to finish third, behind Randy Johnson and Jose Mesa.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I was at the October 4, 1992 game at Shea Stadium. Wakefield vs. Saberhagen. We sat front row, between the first base side on deck circle and home plate. What a contrast the explosive bombs of Saberhagen, who for a skinny guy could really bring the heat and the dancing butterflys of Wakefield. From there it was so easy to see how much gold glove catcher Tony Pena was fighting the knuckleball. He would lean left and reach to his right to catch a pitch. Great game. One of my favorites that I have ever attended.
September 9th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
This Wakefield game has always interested me (although I was too young to have noticed at the time): http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL199304270.shtml
The report has him throwing 10 innings and 172 pitches!
September 9th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
There are only three major leaguers left who are older than me (Wakefield, Vizquel, and Moyer, who's pretty much lapped the field). So I've got to pull for those guys.
September 9th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
I think relievers should not be compared to starters when considering age and wins.
What about the oldest pitchers to win a game they started period... forget pitching for the Sox. I am thinking about Phil Niekro.
Also what about total number of wins after age 44? Phil Niekro again?
Also what role does a catcher play in a knuckleballer staying in the rotation consistently? Charlie Hough for the LAD or Phil Niekro for the Braves. How many wild pitches, pass balls and opposition stolen bases can a manager live with?
September 9th, 2010 at 7:52 pm
I love ol' Wake. He's one of my favorite players ever.
September 9th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
@#13 - Great box score. He walked 10, struck out 1! In each of the first two innings he allowed two walks and hit a batter, ending both innings by inducing DP grounders from Ron Gant and Otis Nixon - not the easiest to double up. I am amazed by Leyland's patience in this game. Wake gave up a leadoff homer in the 9th that tied it, then walked two with two outs in the bototm of the 10th, and even after the Pirates scored 4 to take the lead, Wakefiled came out for the bottom of the 11th (!), walking the first two and finally getting a shower.
September 10th, 2010 at 8:29 am
And let's not overlook this game, in which Wake threw 103 pitches for strikes (158 pitches total), and didn't record a single strikeout.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA199606100.shtml
September 10th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
"Tim Wakefield started and won last night's game for the Red Sox against the Rays, and became the oldest player to win a game for Boston."
Actually, the oldest player to "win a game for Boston" WAS Cy Young, on September 22, 1911. He was 44 years, 5 months, and 24 days when he beat the Pirates 1-0 to collect the last of his record 511 major league wins. Of course, the "Boston" in question was the NL club known then as the Rustlers, and later the Braves. Cy's last win for the AL Red Sox was in 1908 at the age of 41.
September 10th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
#19, You got me. Later in the post, I realized that I needed to write "Red Sox" and not Boston, but I forgot to correct that earlier instance! Good eye!
September 10th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Well it got me too! I wasn't aware Cy Young ever pitched for Boston's NL squad until just looking him up.
Now this is interesting. I just checked Phil Niekro and he was 44 years, 178 days old when he won his last game for the Atlanta Braves. Cy Young was 44 years, 177 days old when he won his last game for the Boston Rustlers, so unless there was someone older that I haven't found, the oldest Brave to win a game is Phil Niekro by one day over Cy Young.
September 10th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Wboenig, nice link! Wake threw a nifty 16-hitter! Or, you could say, he scattered 16 hits.
September 10th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
If you're talking about "really, really old pitchers", you've got to bring up Jack Quinn and Hoyt Wilhelm. It's the law. Quinn was just over 50 years old, Wilhelm just shy. Although I suppose Satchel Paige has both of him beat, being 59(?) when he did his stint for the A's against the Red Sox in 1965 - something for Jamie Moyer to shoot for...
September 10th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
@15 @23
Lawrence, how could I forget Hoyt Wilhelm? And what kind of pitch did he specialize in again..... Well done.
Now all Moyer has to do is learn the knuckleball.
September 10th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
#24/ How come no one so far has mentioned that Cy Young never got any Cy Young Award votes? What's wrong with you people?
September 10th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Jumping off on a tangent here, but was Bert Hooten a pitcher who threw a knuckleball as a third or fourth pitch? An out pitch? I seem to remember a knuckle-curve.
Who else threw an occasional knuckleball as opposed to it being their primary pitch?
Is the knuckleball a pitch of blown-out arms? Heck, does Bill Lee throw a knuckball these days?