Neither will make Cooperstown but Wake & Papi are the epitome of good teammates. Veterans of the game, sticking by one another through both the streaks & the slumps.I saw Tim Wakefield pitch his first major league game when he was a Pittsburgh Pirate. My dad told me “Remember this guy, even if he’s not great, he’ll be in the big leagues for a long time, just because the knuckleball is so weird.”
Back in the 90’s, when he made that debut, Wakefield threw a complete game against the St. Louis Cardinals, striking out 10 batters while throwing 146 pitches.
That’s an old school performance that you would never see a manager allow a rookie to accomplish in today’s game. Pitchers going nine innings & making 146 pitches is unheard of now. Jim Leyland, the very definition of an old school manager, was the manger for the Pirates that day. Great call by your dad on that one.
