Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will not be playing in the 2007 World Series for the Red Sox.
The issue, according to Wakefield and Terry Francona, is Wakefield's recovery time in the series. Francona said Wakefield would have started game two but they weren't sure if he'd be able to start game six, also.
I'm still really confused by this situation. I would understand if Wakefield isn't healthy enough to pitch, but it seems like they're dodging something here. Francona said Wake would have started game two, meaning they're scared to have Wake pitch in Colorado? I believe it.
If Wake were healthy, I wouldn't want him pitching two games while Daisuke Matsuzaka would pitch one at most. I think the Sox really need Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling heading the rotation, not Beckett and Wakefield. Wake is just too inconsistent.
[editor's note, by Randy Booth] Wakefield update!
More on Wakefield. Here are some things he said earlier on the situation:
"Could I pitch Game 2? Probably. But are you going to get 100 percent out of Tim Wakefield? I don't know that either, until Tuesday. After that I don't know either, because dealing with this problem that I've had for the past two months, it seems like my recovery time in getting longer and longer, and I just don't think it's fair to the other 24 guys on this team that I go out there and maybe I pitch well and maybe I don't, and then I'm not available for the rest of the series. It's not fair for the rest of the 24 guys in that clubhouse for me to put them through that."
Does anyone else think, after these comments, this could be Wakefield's last season as a professional baseball player?