Tim Wakefield Day at Fenway

[Spoonless]

I know most of you guys loathe the Red Sox, but Wakefield was always a standup guy. To hang on for 17 years with them is quite a feat. Today, they had a Thanks, Wake! ceremony for him before the game. It was pretty nicely done. A bunch of kids from one of the programs he's involved in came out on the field and you could see how much he cares. They even brought out Doug Mirabelli to catch the opening pitch.

Wakefield is certainly not a HoF candidate (though he probably should end up in the Sox HoF), but he's always been a favorite of mine, and one of the truly great human beings in MLB.

[SammyBirdland]

After he threw out the opening pitch, Valentine questioned his preparation. Beckett missed the ceremony completely because he was choking on a chicken wing in the clubhouse.

[NewMarketSean]

It's crazy that a guy can last for so long in the majors, throwing a 65 MPH ball that wobbles all the way to the plate. I tried to learn the knuckleball in college after my coach deemed my fastball "nonexistent" and while I did have a little success with it, the balls also travel very far when they don't do what they're supposed to.

[Spoonless]

After he threw out the opening pitch, Valentine questioned his preparation. Beckett missed the ceremony completely because he was choking on a chicken wing on the back nine.

Fixed that for ya.