Matt Waldron hoped to do right by the late Tim Wakefield when the San Diego Padres pitcher took the mound Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.
While Waldron didn’t turn in the performance he hoped for by allowing three earned run on six hits with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings to take the loss, it was still a “heck of an experience” for the Padres righty.
Waldron featured the knuckleball which Wakefield, who died this past October at age 57 after a battle with brain cancer, famously put on display during his 17 seasons with the Red Sox. Wakefield served as a mentor for Waldron with the two connecting initially over zoom in 2021. Wakefield kept in touch after that, giving advice to Waldron on how to master throwing the tricky pitch.
With Wakefield on his mind, Waldron was appreciative of the opportunity awarded to him and he had to hold back tears when discussing it.
“It’s Fenway, and you know that Wakefield has toed that rubber,” Waldron told reporters, per NESN postgame coverage. “You could feel it. It was tough.”
Waldron, who moved to 5-7 on the season with a 3.56 ERA, threw five different pitches to Red Sox hitters on the afternoon. But in Wakefield fashion, he leaned on his knuckleball more than any other pitch. He threw 31 knuckleballs out of the 74 pitches he threw and the Red Sox clearly were impressed by it.
It was clear there also was a mutual respect for Waldron’s knuckleball. Red Sox manager Alex Cora even got Waldron’s attention at one point and put his hands in a shape of a heart before signaling to the patch on the Red Sox jersey commemorating Wakefield’s memory.
“I think the pitch in general was admired and it got the respect it deserved,” Waldron said.
