When Matt Waldron, a pitcher for the San Diego Padres, took the mound at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon, he wished to honor the memory of Tim Wakefield.
The Padres right-hander Waldron gave up three earned runs on six hits and three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings, not the performance he had wanted for, but it was still a “heck of an experience.”
Waldron included the knuckleball that Wakefield, who famously displayed throughout his 17 seasons with the Red Sox, notoriously displayed before passing away this past October at the age of 57 following a battle with brain cancer. Waldron received mentorship from Wakefield; the two first communicated via Zoom in 2021. After that, Wakefield stayed in touch with Waldron, coaching him on perfecting the difficult pitch to throw.
Waldron was thinking about Wakefield, grateful for the chance that had been given to him, and he had to fight back tears when talking about it.
Waldron told reporters, “It’s Fenway, and you know that Wakefield has toed that rubber,” according to NESN postgame broadcast. It was palpable. It was difficult.
Against Red Sox batters on that occasion, Waldron, who is now 5-7 on the season with a 3.56 ERA, used five different pitches. He did, however, rely more on his knuckleball than any other pitch, in typical Wakefield form. Out of his 74 pitches, he threw 31 knuckleballs, and the Red Sox were obviously delighted.
It was evident that all parties respected Waldron’s knuckleball skills. At one point, Red Sox manager Alex Cora even caught Waldron’s eye by forming his hands into a heart shape and then gesturing to the Wakefield memorial patch on the team’s shirt.
According to Waldron, “I think the pitch was admired and it got the respect it deserved.”