Bleed Cubbie Blue · Oct 2, 2023
Outside The Confines: Knuckleballs in heaven
It’s the end of the regular season and the end of the Cubs’ season.
But we have other sad news to deal with first. My wife wouldn’t be able to tell you who Tim Wakefield was, but when I told her “He was the pitcher on the original ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’ who wouldn’t get a manicure because he was a knuckleballer,” she knew exactly who he was. (Wakefield did go in for all the other makeover stuff.)
Former Red Sox and Pirates right-hander Tim Wakefield passed away from brain cancer at 57. Wakefield was one of the last great knuckleballers, which seems to be a dying art.
The Red Sox paid tribute to Wakefield on the final game of the season.