Wake (as in funeral)....ouch

[stcjones]

I think that this is most likely Wake's last year....the guy has been awesome here....used to love to watch him pitch...but now, this year he is looking pathetic.........Why Tito put him up against the stanks in the first matchup of this series after he got SHELLED last time against them....and has a horrible record against them overall anyways is beyond me.......Wake just doesn't have the stuff consistently anymore.....Tough way to start it off against the stanks........

[jacksonianmarch]

I'd assume his rotation spot dictated who he faced.

[stcjones]

I'd assume his rotation spot dictated who he faced.

You are right....I know how rotations go....but given Wake's record against you guys not only this year, but historically....he^^ I'd rather see them bump the rotation a bit on this one......especially given the circumstances of this series.....Oh well.....You will get game one (most likely) let's see what happens the rest of the weekend......thx

[mtbykr]

Wake's getting shelled by everyone now...not just the yanks. When he's on he's great but when he's off it's terrible. Let's hope he gets on soon

[jacksonianmarch]

and to be honest, you guys were up 13 coming in. A loss isnt the end of the world.

[ANiMAL]

I thought that we should have used Wake tomorrow and Julian today. Wake is a much better pitcher during the day according to his career splits (3.45 ERA; Night 4.62 ERA).
And again in career splits Tavarez is a better pitcher at night. (4.24ERA compared to Day 4.61 ERA)

[EvilDonut]

In regard to Tavarez, I wouldnt put much stock in a .37 difference in ERA.

[ksushi]

I would rather have Schilling and Beckett going in this series than try to squeak Tavarez in and cost one of them a start....

I can see the arguement for skipping wake this time around. With the offday, Julian would have been on normal rest. If I swapped lives with Tito for a day, I would have put Julian in because coming into this game Wake had a 6.00 ERA against the Yanks in the last ten and he looks plain bad against 'em.

That said, it makes little difference, tomorrow is the big game in this series, not today.

[BSN07]

Wakefield has always been a hot cold pitcher. He is either great or he is awful, usually no in between. He was lights out at the beginning of the season so it is only natural he turn ice cold at some point. He will bounce back like he normally does. If your looking for consistancy in a knuckleballer, you might aswell look for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...

[Thumper]

Wakefield's always been a good pitcher, but it's his Knuckleball that makes him what he is. Sadly, this will probably be his last year. Or maybe as a starter? Is his ego too big to let him go back to the bullpen? Maybe with some more strict training he could last 2-3 innings as mid-relief? But I don't think he'd go for it, and I really wouldn't blame him. I've got nothing but respect for Wakefield. He's pitched a good 12 years up in Boston, and has always been a great asset to the pitching arsenal. But I don't think we'll ever see another Wakefield like the Game 1 of the 2003 ALCS Wakefield. But if he wants to keep going, I think the bullpen would be his only salvation.

[BSN07]

fIf Wake can manage a .500 record, then hes accomplished what he is supposed too, anything extra is gravy.

Everyone is acting like he was the ace and has fallen of drastically, its Fahking Wakefield! Come on people him pitching 2 or 3 bad games in a row is normal. I think everyone fell under the assumption he was going to pitch all season like he did at the starts of this year. To think this is just absurd and you should smack yourself in the head.

[ORS]

Wakefield's always been a good pitcher, but it's his Knuckleball that makes him what he is. Sadly, this will probably be his last year. Or maybe as a starter? Is his ego too big to let him go back to the bullpen? Maybe with some more strict training he could last 2-3 innings as mid-relief? But I don't think he'd go for it, and I really wouldn't blame him. I've got nothing but respect for Wakefield. He's pitched a good 12 years up in Boston, and has always been a great asset to the pitching arsenal. But I don't think we'll ever see another Wakefield like the Game 1 of the 2003 ALCS Wakefield. But if he wants to keep going, I think the bullpen would be his only salvation.
Ego? Won't go for it? I'll generally say something smarmy to an unintelligent post, but this goes beyond that. You don't know fucking shit about this team. Wakefield signed a contract that allows the Sox to bring him back at only $4M per year for as long as they want. He's moved to the bullpen and back whenever asked in his tenure here. The guy is about as selfless as you will see in a professional athlete.

[Coco's Disciples]

Not to mention he gave up his ALCS start to throw mop up duty.

[mtbykr]

Not to mention he gave up his ALCS start to throw mop up duty.


bingo and saved the pen for us and probably the series and win in 04...wake is the definition of a team player

[Rdsxmbnt]

Some stats to consider:
Wake vs. Yankees: 0-3 10.93 era
Wake vs. Everyone else: 5-3 2.50 era

Not to mention in 11 starts Wake has gone 7 innings in six of them , and 6 innings in another two. His other three starts are the times where he hasnt gone at least 6 and all three were vs. the Yankees.

So it would seem the answer would be to stop pitching him vs. the Yankees because they have him figured out right now.

[ORS]

I really don't think it has anything to do with them "figuring" him out. What's to figure out? He's the same pitcher that he has been for 10+ years. It's just a matter of his volatility. Look at his gamelogs. He's in the middle of a bad stretch right now. He has them all the time. Two of them happened to come against the Yankees. It's really nothing more than that.

[example1]

I really don't think it has anything to do with them "figuring" him out. What's to figure out? He's the same pitcher that he has been for 10+ years. It's just a matter of his volatility. Look at his gamelogs. He's in the middle of a bad stretch right now. He has them all the time. Two of them happened to come against the Yankees. It's really nothing more than that.

Exactly. He's either on or he's not. When he's on only he has any clue where his pitches will go. When he's not he's throwing slow-pitch softball. You can't 'figure out' a knuckleball, you just swing at it and hope you make contact.

[TheKilo]

Wakefield's always been a good pitcher, but it's his Knuckleball that makes him what he is. Sadly, this will probably be his last year. Or maybe as a starter? Is his ego too big to let him go back to the bullpen? Maybe with some more strict training he could last 2-3 innings as mid-relief? But I don't think he'd go for it, and I really wouldn't blame him. I've got nothing but respect for Wakefield. He's pitched a good 12 years up in Boston, and has always been a great asset to the pitching arsenal. But I don't think we'll ever see another Wakefield like the Game 1 of the 2003 ALCS Wakefield. But if he wants to keep going, I think the bullpen would be his only salvation.

Seriously??????????

Wow.

[schillingouttheks]

Seriously??????????

Wow.

With posts like that, Thumper continues to give evidence as to his account being a fake. I don't buy how any "fan" could think of Wakefield as a selfish player. Absolutely unreal. Thumper, honestly, did you become a fan post-2004? You're acting like you did. I consistently wonder if your infatuation with Ted Williams (not that he's a bad favorite player...but you're consistently on his balls in a metaphoric kind of way, obviously) is a way of you covering the lenth of your fandom up.