This season, the Boston Red Sox will wear patches commemorating longstanding franchise mainstay Tim Wakefield, according to Gabrielle Starr of The Boston Herald.
Wakefield died in October after a seizure caused by brain cancer. He was 57 years old.
The patches will feature Wakefield’s No. 49, which he wore on his Red Sox jersey from 1995 to 2011.
The knuckleballer went 200-180 with a 4.41 ERA and 34.4 WAR over his career, which included two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early 1990s.
Wakefield made his first and only All-Star appearance in 2009, at the age of 42. With 186 career victories, he is third in Red Sox history behind only Cy Young and Roger Clemens, and his 3,006.0 innings pitched set a franchise record.
Wakefield is a two-time World Series champion who also received the Roberto Clemente Award in 2010.
After retiring, Wakefield served as a commentator for NESN, the regional sports network that covered the Red Sox.
The Red Sox last wore honorary patches on their jerseys in 2022, following the death of former player and NESN broadcaster Jerry Remy. Throughout the season, Boston’s jerseys featured Remy’s number two on the left sleeve.
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The Red Sox’s latest trade acquisition is likely to miss Opening Day.
Vaughn Grissom has yet to appear in a spring training game for the Boston Red Sox. However, he was supposed to do so this weekend. The Red Sox will most likely be without the second baseman they acquired this offseason to begin 2024. Grissom had a groin issue and is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, manager Alex Cora revealed Saturday. The Red Sox were cautious to play him in preparation for the season because he had a hamstring injury.
“He’ll be out. “We’ll shut him down,” Cora told reporters. “It happened two days ago when taking ground balls. He underwent an MRI yesterday. We feel at ease where we are. However, we are clearly dissatisfied with our current situation. It’ll take longer than a few days. Obviously, there is no timeframe. But with this, Opening Day may not happen for him.”
Cora believes Enmanuel Valdéz is the most likely candidate to fill second base in Grissom’s absence. Pablo Reyes, Rob Refsnyder, Romy Gonzalez, and Bobby Dalbec could all play there.
