I love Tim Wakefield SO MUCH. Baseball without him would be so weird.

***

Okay, so I still love Wake. However....Tony Maz, not so much. I would have been less of a hater had there been fewer em dashes and one-line sentences. On the latter: it's the biggest symptom of newspaper-ish writing (as opposed to book-writing), along with hyperbole and too-conversational English in spots. But the one-line sentences kill me; we're not reading this for your reactionary opinions in the Herald! You don't need to keep us on the edge of our seats as if this were a play-by-play!

Other things: I loved reliving 1998-2007, the peak of my Sox fandom, and some of Wake's perspectives on events I knew about were great. (As others have said, it's strange how little insight the book does give; mentions of other players are pretty scarce, and I disliked that Manny, of all people, got the most ink of all of Wake's teammates. I mean, really? You could have written a whole chapter on Pedro! ( )

Honestly the reason I read this book was because I wanted to know what was going through Wakefield's mind as Aaron Boone's home run ended the 2003 season. Just as most of Red Sox Nation I never blamed him when it happened, he was just the one standing there and it could have been any of the pitchers out there. And, I'm glad that that was part of the book, what was going through his head. It was interesting.

But the book turned out to not just be about that moment, or even just about the Knuckler. It was about the journey of Wakefield and boy what a journey that has been. He's always been one of my favorite players alongside guys like Trot Nixon and Brian Daubach, guys who will do whatever is needed and grind through season after season. But really I think the thing I've always liked the most about Wakefield was that he never made excuses and the book only emphasized that. From what it said it seems like he was even harder on himself during his career the Boston Media ever was, and since the Boston Media can be piranhas in human disguises, that's saying something.

The book is also one of the best memoirs of Red Sox players I've read. It flowed well and Massarotti combined the general Red Sox info along with what Wakefield was going through and thinking very well. ( )

Knuckleball pitchers are different. For most pitchers, throwing as hard as possible is a key element in their success. Reaching 100 mph on the speed gun is impressive. Not so with knuckleball pitchers. Throwing hard actually makes them less successful.

When knuckleball pitchers release the ball, they have no idea where it’s going and it often travels at speeds that are underwhelming. Managers and pitching coaches don’t feel capable of providing knuckleball pitchers with advice because they don’t know either. Most catchers hate catching knuckleball pitchers. Even on strikeouts, catchers often are unable to control the ball. Wakefield’s stories on these topics are detailed in this wonderfully informative book. But that’s just the beginning.

Knuckleball pitchers comprise a small fraternity of ballplayers—Phil and Joe Niekro, Hoyt Wilhelm, Wilbur Wood, and Charlie Hough are about the only others that spring to mind--and I’ve never seen such an eye-opening look at a knuckleball pitcher before. The autobiography of long-time Boston Red Sox knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield not only goes behind the scenes to talk about how he came to develop his knuckler but also how he managed to survive in major league baseball with it for nearly 20 years, winning two World Series championships and making him the elder statesman on the Boston pitching staff. Great stuff for the diehard baseball fan and the more casual fan alike.

There’s lots of little-known information in this book. For example, unlike most pitchers who love when the wind is blowing in, knuckleball pitchers actually prefer for the wind to be blowing out, which makes the knuckler dance around more. While most pitchers are held to strict pitch counts, knuckleball pitchers can pile up the pitches and the innings, often starting a game one day and relieving the next, which is unthinkable for “regular” pitchers.

Besides the baseball angle, Wakefield seems like one of the nicest, regular guys in major league baseball and even the nonfan might enjoy reading about that. Highly recommended!!

(I received this book via net galley.) ( )