Tim Wakefield Finally Retires
Wakefield, of course, pitched for the Pirates in 1992 and 1993. Amazingly, he didn't even make his debut until he was 25. He pitched two complete games for the Pirates in the 1992 NLCS.
UPDATE: It just occurred to me that Wakefield was the last active player who was on a winning team with the Pirates.
UPDATE: Actually, Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue pointed out on Twitter that Miguel Batista, who pitched two innings for the Bucs in '92, is still out there. He's in camp with the Mets. It's not clear whether he'll play this year. I'd honestly forgotten about Batista's incredibly-brief tenure with the Pirates.
3 months ago
Charlie Wilmoth
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Shoot, I coulda taught you.
Of course, not knowing you then makes that even harder.
________________________________
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Feb 18, 2012 4:57 PM EST up reply actions
And he was in the bullpen
when Drabek started the ninth inning of Game 7.
Gah
And here I was having a nice Friday.
No way Leyland would have gone with him, but what a great side-story to that inning.
Belinda was squeezed. Chico was caught with his pants down. Bonds was back too far.
Sigh.
Just saying
the only Brave who tagged Wakefield hard all series was Justice, and if Wake throws a 1-2-3 ninth Justice is left in the on-deck circle, IIRC. He would have been as good an alternative as anyone else in the pen to start the inning, and EVERYONE in the pen was available to start the inning.
I admit, I just like to throw this stuff out there from time to time to tweak anybody who thinks Leyland is a genius. I like Leyland and think he’s a fine manager, but in this instance he went with his heart instead of his head and it cost us all.
My dad
actually still complains about that to this day. He insists that if Wake had been called on in Game 7, we would have one because the Braves couldn’t touch him that series. At the same time, the guy already had 2 complete games in the series including Game 6. It might have worked, but I don’t know if you can call it the smart choice to go with Wakefield for the 9th…
by KentuckyPirate on Feb 17, 2012 1:05 PM EST up reply actions
I would have been OK with it
Largely because I had no confidence in Stan Belinda that year. But that would have been thinking pretty far outside the box, and it’s not as though the stakes weren’t high. Knuckleballers are such wild cards as it is. Do you bring one in for the most important 9th inning in 13 years? Leyland played it safe and would have probably gotten away with it were it not for the Lind error and Randy Marsh becoming the anti-Eric Gregg.
Leyland blew it...
…by not pulling Wakefield in Game 6 after the Pirates got out to the 8-0 lead in the second, having only thrown 19 pitches in the first.
Had he done that, Wakefield could have started again in Game 7, leaving Drabek in the bullpen for the deciding game.
It's just my two cents. Could be worth more, could be worth nothing.
Ballsy move.
8-0 lead is no sure thing.
You gotta aim high to fail so big. - Trace Beaulieu
by IAPiratesFan on Feb 17, 2012 6:15 PM EST up reply actions
Drabek did fine in game 7, though.
Not actually affiliated with whygavs.
by WHYG Zane Smith on Feb 17, 2012 7:22 PM EST up reply actions
To a point.
No manager in his right mind today would let his starter pitch the ninth in that situation. Drabek had been hammered in his two previous starts and was pitching a gutty gem. If you manage with your heart, you let him start the ninth. If you manage with your head, you say to yourself, let’s not press our luck here. The worst guy in my bullpen, if he comes in with nobody on and needs just three outs, will get through the inning 80 percent of the time without three runs scoring. Belinda should be able to do it 90 percent of the time.
Leyland came into the game, the most important game of his life to that point, unable to trust anybody — ANYBODY — to get him three outs with the World Series on the line. Not Belinda, not Wakefield, not Walk, not anybody. That’s kind of an indictment of everybody in Pirates management that year, from Leyland on up.
(And they knew it, because what did they do that offseason? Oh yes, they signed Alejandro Pena. Injured Alejandro Pena. To close for a team that was horseshit.)
Yes, it still pisses me off. I bought World Series tickets that day.
(And they knew it, because what did they do that offseason?
Well the offseason for the Pirates was the start of the end of the road for the Pirates. John Smiley was traded for peanuts, Bobby Bonilla walked, Neal Heaton was traded for Kirk Gibson who we eventually released not long afterwards and Bill Landrum was shipped out. Ted Simmons didn’t give Leyland anything to work with going into that year. It’s amazing we even made the playoffs in the first place.
Ovechkin-Leich-Semin: The greatest line in hockey..............................Tee Hee
Proud supporter of the following clubs: Pittsburgh Penguins, Erie Otters, Columbus Crew, Boston Celtics and the best football clubs in the land: Manchester United F.C.
The Manchester United Football Club: Winning countless trophies and making City fans jealous and full of envy since 1902.
by Bradley James McEachern on Feb 18, 2012 3:00 AM EST up reply actions
Simmons was the beginning of the end, really.
At least Doughty tried to make the team better while he was GM. Simmons was basically hired to slash payroll for Mark Sauer, who really had no interest at all in keeping the team competitive. The ownership at the time was hoping that the owners would win on the new CBA in 1994/95. So they didn’t bother spending money in any way on the major league team or the farm system.
Hell, after the 92 season, they didn’t even bother offering arbitration to Bonds, so they missed out on a 2nd round draft pick.
You gotta aim high to fail so big. - Trace Beaulieu
by IAPiratesFan on Feb 18, 2012 8:37 AM EST up reply actions
To be fair
Smiley was traded for Neagle and Midre Cummings (#33 prospect in baseball). Cummings was a flop but Neagle was a good pitcher.
by KentuckyPirate on Feb 18, 2012 10:14 AM EST up reply actions
But...
When Smiley left the Twins through Free Agency, the Twins used that compensation pick to get Torii Hunter.
You gotta aim high to fail so big. - Trace Beaulieu
by IAPiratesFan on Feb 18, 2012 10:49 AM EST up reply actions
"but Neagle was a good pitcher"
But the question is would you have traded a 20 game winner for him? I wouldn’t of.
Ovechkin-Leich-Semin: The greatest line in hockey..............................Tee Hee
Proud supporter of the following clubs: Pittsburgh Penguins, Erie Otters, Columbus Crew, Boston Celtics and the best football clubs in the land: Manchester United F.C.
The Manchester United Football Club: Winning countless trophies and making City fans jealous and full of envy since 1902.
by Bradley James McEachern on Feb 19, 2012 5:33 AM EST up reply actions
Neagle became a 20-game winner in his own right a few years later. So, yes, I would have.
by Vlad on Feb 19, 2012 11:02 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Well, that's my point:
The team was disintegrating to the point the last thing they would need was a closer, unless it was a damaged closer, and look what they went and got. Because why? Because Leyland didn’t trust anyone is his pen enough to hand him a 2-0 lead in the ninth with the World Series on the line.
Do I recall correctly that Pena did something classy like forfeit his second year’s pay when it became clear he wasn’t going to pitch anymore, ever?
I can't agree with your assessment of the Smiley trade.
Neagle developed into an even better starter than Smiley had been, and while Cummings didn’t pan out, he was an extremely well-regarded prospect at the time of the deal (BA’s #33 overall in 1992, the year of the trade, and #44 in 1993, the year after it).
by Vlad on Feb 19, 2012 11:01 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
"I bought World Series tickets that day."
A-HA!!! We’ve found our JINX!
GET HIM!
________________________________
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Feb 18, 2012 5:01 PM EST up reply actions
In Boston
It’s very interesting to listen to the radio about this. He’s obviously a fan favorite and almost no one here even remembers that he was a Pirate. I wish him well.
Yinzers uber alles
I thought I could get one more year
without being older than every major league player, now my hope rests on Moyer making a team. (I’m not positive there isn’t another player older than Wake in the league)
Wakefield
really struggled the next full season after the 8-1 late season performance in 1992. He was something like 6-13, with a high ERA in 1993. The feeling was that the league had figured Wakefield out, and he wouldn’t be a capable starter. Of course, looking back, the Bucs should have been more patient, and found room on the staff in 1994.
Didn't he start out in the minors as an outfielder?
If I remember correctly, he wasn’t doing very well hitting and was screwing around with the knuckleball when a coach saw him and suggested the switch to pitching.
Yup
Actually, he played mostly at first base. And not all that well.
He had a horrendous 1993, and an even worse ’94 at AAA Buffalo. Bonifay might have kept him, though, if he had come up as a pitcher. The fact he was drafted as a position player probably tipped the scales in favor of him being a fluke. Obviously Bonifay was wrong, but after ’93 and ’94, it was hard to blame him.
That's true.
I really wish they held on to him, but realistically, he looked like a fluke by the start of the 95 season. Even if they did hold on to him, who’s to say he would have recovered in Pittsburgh like he did in Boston?
You gotta aim high to fail so big. - Trace Beaulieu
by IAPiratesFan on Feb 18, 2012 10:54 AM EST up reply actions
Um, no.
You gotta aim high to fail so big. - Trace Beaulieu
by IAPiratesFan on Feb 18, 2012 10:54 AM EST up reply actions
I don’t believe he is either but I wouldn’t be shocked to see him on the ballot and get some votes. He is third all-time on the Boston Red Sox with 186 team victories, behind Cy Young and Roger Clemens, who have 192 each, second all-time for the Red Sox in strikeouts behind only Clemens and was on two WS winning teams. Of course, if he did this on a small market team few would care but since he did it with the Red Sox I’m sure it will get him a few votes.
Yeah.
I suppose if Jack Morris could be in the Hall of Fame, so could Tim Wakefield…
You gotta aim high to fail so big. - Trace Beaulieu
by IAPiratesFan on Feb 18, 2012 8:51 PM EST up reply actions
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