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For me, knuckleball pitchers are interesting, and Tim Wakefield is a knuckleball pitcher. Every time I see someone throw 95 MPH, I shake my head and say, “how do they do that?.” Every time I see a knuckleball pitcher throw, I say, “I can do that!”

Tim played college ball at Florida Tech as a first baseman. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a corner infielder. After being told by one scout that he would never make it past Double A ball with his skills, Tim decided to try throwing the knuckler so he could look back and say that he had tried everything he possibly could to make it.

He certainly picked something that most people ignored. There are rarely more than two knuckleball pitchers in the major leagues at any one time. There are only three pitchers in the Hall of Fame who relied on the knuckleball. Even though the pitch is notoriously difficult to throw for strikes and takes an inordinate amounts of patience to learn, Tim has been one of the most consistent pitchers in baseball amassing 189 wins and almost 2000 strikeouts in his career.

Tim has been with the Boston Red Sox since 1995 wearing number 49 and winning championships with Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and the rest. You will not see as many Tim Wakefield jerseys as you will of Big Papi, but he is still very popular and does a good job on the mound.

He is currently third on the all time Boston Red Sox wins list with 175, trailing only two slightly more well known pitchers, Cy Young and Roger Clemens. He is also ninth on the career hit batters list, a stat he may or may not be proud of. But I’m sure he’s proud to have been nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award seven times due to his charitable acts and his commitment to community.

Tim Wakefield seems to be one of the last of a dying breed, the knuckleball pitcher; baseball’s version of the dodo bird. Will his consistent success prompt millions of young boys to start learning that mysterious and wacky pitch known as the knuckleball? Probably not, but for now it sure is fun watching batters hack wildly at thin air just like I did when I played. Now that’s interesting!