With the regular season over and playoffs beginning today, the baseball world is honoring retiring Tigers hitter Miguel Cabrera and Guardians manager Terry Francona, while mourning the deaths of Orioles great Brooks Robinson and beloved Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield.<\/p>\n
Wakefield had a long career, winning 200 major league games from 1992 to 2011. He had a short life, dying at age 57 following surgery for brain cancer. And one line<\/a> in his Wikipedia bio is most important: \u201cWakefield became an evangelical Christian in 1990.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot behind that sentence, and yet I was a little puzzled that none of The Boston Globe<\/em>\u2019s four stories about him Sunday evening mentioned his faith\u2014nor did articles on ESPN or in The Athletic<\/em>.<\/p>\n They did report his stats and his biggest win, receiving the Roberto Clemente Award in 2010\u2014which goes to only one major league player each year and is said to represent baseball\u2019s best through sportsmanship and community involvement.<\/p>\n Red Sox principal owner John Henry spoke<\/a> of Wakefield\u2019s \u201cwarmth and genuine spirit,\u201d as well as his \u201cremarkable ability to uplift, inspire, and connect with others in a way that showed us the true definition of greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n Team chairman Tom Werner said<\/a>, \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to be an outstanding athlete. It\u2019s another to be an extraordinary human being. Tim was both.\u201d Likewise, Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy said Wakefield \u201cexemplified every humanitarian quality in the dictionary.\u201d<\/p>\n But how did Wakefield\u2019s Christian faith underlie all those good qualities? None of the business leaders connected the dots, at least in their press release statements.<\/p>\n Betsy Farmer did, though. She founded the Space Coast Early Intervention Center in Melbourne, Florida\u2014Wakefield\u2019s hometown. On Sunday, Florida Today <\/em>quoted<\/a> Farmer saying, \u201cTim led me to the Lord and I\u2019ll never forget that.\u201d She said she texted Wakefield on Saturday that she was praying for him, and he responded with a heart emoji.<\/p>\n While I\u2019m disappointed many are neglecting to mention his faith, this says something significant about the way Wakefield as a public figure approached Christianity in an age of empty virtue signaling and flashy displays of religiosity. That is, while Wakefield privately influenced many with his faith, religion was not something he made a big show of publicly.<\/p>\n The first time I interviewed Wakefield was in 1993.<\/p>\n He had seen success as a slugging first baseman at a Florida high school and then at Florida Tech. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1988, he failed in the minor leagues and saw that his only major league hope lay in becoming a pitcher and throwing the knuckleball his dad had taught him. It\u2019s a twisting pitch that only one or two major league pitchers in each decade master, and most hitters can\u2019t corral.<\/p>\n Wakefield made it to the majors in 1992. His knuckleball fluttered and he became the National League\u2019s Rookie Pitcher of the Year with a spectacular 2.15 earned run average. But the knuckleball, like God\u2019s providence, is mysterious. In 1993 Wakefield lost control of it, walking nine batters on opening day and dropping back to the minors in July.<\/p>\n That year, Wakefield told me about his coming to faith in Christ and the effect it had on him: \u201cBefore, I worked hard but I wasn\u2019t at ease. Now, in a lot of tough situations \u2026 knowing that God is gracious regardless of my performance helps me to control my frustrations.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued, \u201cThe gospel has given me inner peace. I still have a lot to learn, but there is that inner peace.\u201d He needed that gospel in 1994 when the Pirates gave up on him. And he remembered it in 1995 when the Red Sox signed him and the knuckleball worked again. Wakefield won 16 games and was the American League\u2019s Comeback Player of the Year.<\/p>\n Image: Elsa \/ Staff \/ Getty<\/p>\n Tim Wakefield throwing a pitch at a game against the Tampa Bay Rays.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Then came a comedown. In 1996 his earned run average soared to 5.14. In 1997 he led major league baseball by hitting 16 batters with pitches. He kept having ups and downs. In 2003 he gave up the homerun to Aaron Boone of the New York Yankees, causing the Red Sox to lose the American League Championship Series. But in 2004 he pitched crucial innings in games that gave Boston a league championship and its first World Series triumph since 1918.<\/p>\n In 2005 The Boston Globe<\/em> ran a feature about Wakefield and a dozen other players under the headline \u201cFaith binds many on Sox: Evangelical Christians give sport a spiritual context.\u201d Reporter Bob Hohler quoted<\/a> Wakefield as saying he had \u201caccepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior\u2026. It\u2019s so easy to be thankful when you\u2019re on top of your game and everything is going right. But when I gave up the home run to Aaron, I had to be thankful for that, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Wakefield was not as vocal about his faith as some other players are, but those who covered the Red Sox\u2014or those who asked\u2014knew about it.<\/p>\n I interviewed Wakefield again in 2011, during his last year in the majors, as he was doing pre-game loosening-up exercises by third base. Wakefield said<\/a>, \u201cSome people lead by example, others by words. I don\u2019t talk about it much, but when reporters ask, I\u2019m happy for them to let people know about my beliefs. They generally don\u2019t ask.”<\/p>\n But they did ask about his unusual avoidance of the long-term contracts that other players demanded. Starting in 2005, Wakefield deliberately<\/a> went year-by-year. He later reflected, \u201cMoney isn\u2019t that important, and I had already made a lot. I wanted to pitch as long as I could contribute, and didn\u2019t want to hang on if I couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Wakefield also contributed in big ways off the field.<\/p>\n One Boston Globe<\/em> headline yesterday declared<\/a>, \u201cTim Wakefield remembered for his selfless charitable works, including for the Jimmy Fund.\u201d It\u2019s ironic that cancer killed him, because the Jimmy Fund benefits the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, New England\u2019s premier center for cancer research and patient care. A Dana-Farber statement made an unattributed reference to Matthew 5:41\u2014Wakefield \u201calways went the extra mile.\u201d<\/p>\n In Wakefield\u2019s home state, Betsy Farmer told Florida Today<\/em> that he had volunteered at the Space Coast Early Intervention Center in high school and stayed committed to it. Farmer said Wakefield promised<\/a> her \u201cthat once he made it to the big leagues, he would help. And he kept that promise,\u201d donating and raising more than $5 million for the center, now called Space Coast Discovery.<\/p>\n Wakefield\u2019s teammates also knew that he kept promises. During Wakefield\u2019s last eight pitching years, I once asked Terry Francona, then-manager of the Red Sox, if he was concerned about his performance during a game in which Wakefield gave up four home runs. Francona responded<\/a>, \u201cNo. He\u2019s a solid professional every day, doing his best. He\u2019s the same, good day or bad day.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s also a description of some mature Christians who make a not-necessarily-spoken profession of faith in Christ by steadiness under pressure. They don\u2019t get arrogant in good times or anxious in bad ones.<\/p>\n![\"Tim](\"https:\/\/www-images.christianitytoday.com\/images\/136601.jpg?h=397&w=600\" "\\"Tim")
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