Knuckleball life comes full circle for Wakefield

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The echo was undeniable, even if faint. The site of Tim Wakefield discussing the art of the knuckleball with Japanese schoolgirl Eri Yoshida at the Red Sox' minor league training facility on Tuesday hearkened to the moment that may have saved Wakefield's career.

The 18-year-old Yoshida was inspired to throw the knuckleball by Wakefield, the first pitcher whom she ever recalled seeing throw the pitch. She pitched in a Japanese independent league in 2009, then came to the U.S. to pitch for the Yuma Scorpions of the Arizona Winter League. She made no secret of the fact that she views the 43-year-old as an inspiration, and her goal is straightforward.

“Of course, [the goal is] to try to become a pitcher like Tim Wakefield,” Yoshida said.

That statement might not have been uttered by the young pro but for Wakefield's association in Fort Myers with an all-female professional baseball team in 1995. At that time, Wakefield was amidst a dramatic fall from grace. After jumping to prominence in 1992 by going 8-1 with a 2.15 ERA as a rookie with the Pirates, Wakefield had slipped to a 6-11 record and 5.61 ERA in 1993. That led to a demotion to the minors, where Wakefield went 8-20 with a 6.15 ERA through the 1994 campaign.

During the next spring training, the Pirates released Wakefield. Then Sox general manager Dan Duquette convinced Wakefield to sign a minor league deal with Boston in part because in 1995, the team was sharing its spring training facility with the Colorado Silver Bullets, the first women's pro team since the folding of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1954. The Silver Bullets happened to be coached by brothers Phil and Joe Niekro, whose mastery of the knuckleball had led to a combined 539 wins in the majors.

Wakefield would work out with the Niekro brothers in the mornings at the minor league facility, before the Silver Bullets' daily workouts. The fact that Wakefield, then just 28, could seek the wisdom of a pair of mentors who could diagnose his struggles proved invaluable.

"It was just nice to sit and talk to somebody who had gone through what I was going through at the time. To be able to have them watch me throw, give me feedback, watch each one — kind of like what I did [on Tuesday with Yoshida] — they could see the mistakes I was making," said Wakefield. "At that young of an age, I knew how to throw one, but when I was making a mistake, I didn’t know what was causing it. I couldn’t feel it. Just having them repeatedly tell me, you need to get around that one a little more, a little stiffer wrist, was a big help."

Wakefield would catch glimpses of the women's team on his way to and from his workouts with the Niekro brothers, and now, 15 years later, he says that he remembers those experiences "all the time ... all the time." Wakefield's confidence was restored by his work during those days, and his mechanics were successfully put back in order.

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The rest is well known. After a brief stint with Triple-A Pawtucket, Wakefield went 16-8 with a 2.95 ERA to help lead the Sox to the playoffs. He finished third in the AL Cy Young voting in 1995, and has since forged a rather remarkable career with the Red Sox that has now seen the odometer roll forward to 175 wins, the third-highest total in team history.

In the process, Wakefield has become the defining knuckleballer of the post-Niekro baseball generation. Yet he remains mindful of the lesson in humility that he experienced in 1995, and the power that patient teachers can have for a pitch that is still understood by few.

Wakefield said that, but for the opportunity to work with the Silver Bullets' famous coaches, he would "probably not" have rejuvenated his career. That, in turn, played into why Wakefield seemed to take such pleasure in the opportunity to work with Yoshida on Tuesday, and to take the opportunity to pass along his own wisdom to an eager and grateful student.

"It was really cool," said Wakefield. "I was honored to be able to go out there, talk to her, watch her throw, kind of help pass the torch.

"It’s an honor to have somebody carry on a knuckleball tradition and somebody that’s doing it because she likes what I do. It’s pretty cool to have someone come over to the States from Japan, I heard about her last year, and for her to come over here, she’s playing in a couple of independent leagues right now. For her to come all the way to Fort Myers and watch me throw, it was an honor for me to just talk to her and give her some tips.”