OT: RIP, Tim Wakefield

[Casey2296]

Way too young to go, RIP Tim.

[Brian]

I am a die-hard Yankees fan and watched many a game that he pitched in the post-season. This is truly sad news. He was a great competitor and great sport. Condolences to his family and loved ones, who are going through too much. Very sad.

[jayshum]

Sad news for sure, and from what was reported when his illness was first made public a few days ago, his wife also has cancer. It's hard to imagine what their family is going through right now. Condolences and best wishes to all of them.

[mainemule]

I am exactly the same age as Wake and this hits hard. Both of us born summer of '66. He certainly experienced the highs and lows as a player, first not making it as a position player, living the life of a knuckler, giving up the 03 homer to Boone, then coming back to save the Sox pen in 04 and we know the rest.2 WS, 200 wins AND a Roberto Clemente award.

Tears streamed down my face watching the Sox pregame show today as Tom Caron (pre-game host) could barely get through the news and Dave OBrien and Kevin Youkilis on the game intro were so clearly emotional.

This shows the fragility of life and we should appreciate every day with the ones we love.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Another baseball player dead by brain cancer. NYT had an article couple years back about the correlation between astro turf (which emits cancer causing fine particulates) and baseball players. I think there were 5-6 players from Philly that all died from the same brain cancer that Wake had. I believe he spent time in Pittsburgh who had astro turf at that time. Gotta wonder...

RIP. Loved watching him pitch and he was just as good in the booth.

[Kutcher55]

This is sad. I remember when Wakefield joined the Sox in 1995 he was absolutely unhittable for the first 4 months or so of the year. I think at one point he was 16-1 with a sub 2 ERA. The Boston Herald had a headline during that hot summer that read, “Wake and Bake.” After that, he got racked for most of the remainder of the year and finished 17-10 or so. When he was good he was very good but sometimes the knuckler didn’t flutter. That said, while he could be inconsistent on the mound he was apparently a very reliable and much loved teammate and family man.

[Snapolit1]

Yeah, remember that. Tug McGraw was one of the players.

He dies early of aggressive brain cancer and his wife is battling Alzheimer’s. Life can really suck sometimes.

Why I could quite get on board with the everything happens for a reason crowd.

QUOTE=ajjohnsonsoxfan;2377415]Another baseball player dead by brain
cancer. NYT had an article couple years back about the correlation between astro turf (which emits cancer causing fine particulates) and baseball players. I think there were 5-6 players from Philly that all died from the same brain cancer that Wake had. I believe he spent time in Pittsburgh who had astro turf at that time. Gotta wonder...

RIP. Loved watching him pitch and he was just as good in the booth.[/QUOTE]

[jbsports33]

Was able to see him in person many times, he will be missed - god bless his family!