#Shortstops: Wobbly brilliance

For a second straight season, the Red Sox’s World Series aspirations depended upon the wobbly whims of the knuckleball. 

In Game 5 on Oct. 18, however, with the Red Sox having already begun their climb back from a 3-0 series deficit, the veteran knuckleballer turned in a performance as clutch and impactful as Dave Roberts, David Ortiz or any of the series’ other, more celebrated heroes.

He entered in the 12th, the game tied at four, and would be without the luxury of trusted backstop Doug Mirabelli. Jason Varitek, the starting catcher with significantly more to offer offensively, would remain in the game.

“Varitek does not normally catch Wakefield," The Globe wrote. “But these are most assuredly not normal times, even for the Yankees and Red Sox.”

A runner reached second in that 12th inning but Wakefield coaxed fly balls out of Derek Jeter and Álex Rodríguez to escape trouble. In the 13th, a passed ball negated a Gary Sheffield strikeout before two more advanced a couple runners into scoring position. His cursed Red Sox facing impending doom, Wakefield fanned Rúben Sierra with what The Globe called his “A-plus floater.”

“You saw Varitek trying to catch it,” Jeter said. “Nobody knows where it’s going to go. It’s no fun trying to hit it, either.”

“I was just trying to keep us in the game for as long as possible,” Wakefield said.

Wakefield pitched a clean 14th and later claimed he could have continued, but there was no need. Ortiz’s bloop single walked it off and took Boston’s comeback on the road to New York. His final line: Three innings, one hit, four strikeouts and a well-earned victory.

“Just when we all thought we had seen everything in this old rivalry,” The New York Times wrote, “the Red Sox willed themselves to survive in a game that was symbolized by Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball fluttering away from Jason Varitek’s glove. The entire season was wobbling along with Wakefield’s butterfly.”

“He’s just so awesome,” said Red Sox pitching coach Dave Wallace. “The way he went through that line-up. He stepped up in every way he could. He pitched great tonight, he was there if we needed him [Sunday] night, and he volunteered to give us innings [Saturday night]. He’s just a consummate pro.”

Boston would sweep St. Louis in the World Series, with Wakefield throwing 3.2 innings to start Game 1. A jersey he wore that postseason is in the Hall of Fame’s collection. 

“It was very gratifying to see,” teammate Gabe Kapler said. “Tim is one of those guys you have to push hard for, and you know why? Because he cares. He cares about his team as much as anyone in here.”

Wakefield pitched through his age-44 season, retiring after 2011 with over 3,000 career innings and exactly 200 victories. He passed away in 2023, at age 57, of brain cancer. His legacy is one of a beloved teammate, an abundantly generous community member and, on nights like Oct. 18, 2004, the wielder of a truly lethal weapon in the knuckleball. 

Justin Alpert was a digital content specialist at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum