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  • Former Boston Red Sox pitcher and 2-time World Series champion Tim Wakefield dies at age 57 | CNN

    Former Boston Red Sox pitcher and 2-time World Series champion Tim Wakefield dies at age 57 | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    Longtime Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield died Sunday morning at age 57, the team announced in a news release.

    No cause of death was provided, though the team issued a statement earlier this week acknowledging that the former pitcher was battling a “disease,” and requesting privacy for the Wakefield family.

    “Our hearts are broken with the loss of Tim Wakefield,” the Red Sox posted on X on Sunday. “Wake embodied true goodness; a devoted husband, father, and teammate, beloved broadcaster, and the ultimate community leader. He gave so much to the game and all of Red Sox Nation.”

    Red Sox legend and baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz posted a photo on Instagram of him hugging Wakefield, writing, “I can’t describe what you mean to me and my family, my heart is broken right now because l will never be able to replace a brother and a friend like you.”

    “He was real. He was CLASS. This is truly horrible news,” longtime Boston sportswriter Bob Ryan wrote on X.

    Wakefield was drafted out of college as a first baseman but when his career stalled he turned to a rarely thrown pitch to make the majors. He became a right-handed starting pitcher famous for being one of the few big leaguers to feature a knuckleball and in his career he won 200 games,

    Wakefield played two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates before beginning a 17-year stint with the Red Sox. He won a pair of World Series championships with the Red Sox, including their win in 2004 after a historic rally in the American League Championship Series and their subsequent MLB title in 2007.

    He was the recipient of the 2010 Roberto Clemente Award recognizing “extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

    In 1995, Wakefield finished third in voting for the Cy Young Award and was selected as American League Comeback Player of the Year by the Sporting News.

    His 186 victories in his Red Sox career are just six behind team record-setters Young and Roger Clemens. Wakefield’s 3,006 innings and 430 starts are club records.

    At his retirement announcement in February 2012, Wakefield said all he ever wanted to do was to help the Red Sox be champions.

    “There have been many ups and downs along the way, but one thing is for sure, every time I stepped on that field I gave everything I had. All I ever wanted to do was win. And the bigger goal was to win a World Series for this great city,” he said. “So, finally, after 86 years we were able to do that (in 2004) and the greatest thrill for me was to share it with all the players before us, but more importantly was sharing it with generations and generations of Red Sox fans.”

    Following his 19-year career, Wakefield remained involved with the Red Sox organization, spending a total of 29 years with the club as a player, special assistant and broadcaster. Wakefield also served as the honorary chairman of the Red Sox Foundation.

    “Tim’s kindness and indomitable spirit were as legendary as his knuckleball,” said Red Sox owner John Henry. “He not only captivated us on the field but was the rare athlete whose legacy extended beyond the record books to the countless lives he touched with his warmth and genuine spirit. He had a remarkable ability to uplift, inspire, and connect with others in a way that showed us the true definition of greatness. He embodied the very best of what it means to be a member of the Boston Red Sox and his loss is felt deeply by all of us.”

    MLB commissioner Rob Manfred called Wakefield a “respected teammate” and “one of the most unique pitchers of his generation.” His knuckleball was thrown with the tips of his index and middle fingers firmly planted on the leather cover and pushing the ball from his hands with the thumb and ring finger. That prevented the ball from spinning and made its path to the batter unpredictable and often bewildering.

    Manfred sent condolences of behalf of major league officials to his family, former teammates and friends.

    “We will continue to support our partners at Stand Up To Cancer in the memory of Tim and all those who are in the fight against this disease,” Manfred said in a statement.

    The Pirates said of Wakefield, “He was a great man who will be dearly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time.”

    Wakefield’s medical condition was not publicly known until Curt Schilling, a former teammate on the Red Sox, shared it on his podcast. Schilling was immediately and widely criticized for doing so, and the Red Sox released a statement clarifying that the information was “shared… without [the Wakefield family’s] permission.”

    Wakefield is survived by his wife, Stacy, and their children, Trevor and Brianna.

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  • Opinion: He took 4 teams to the MLB Playoffs. The 5th time was the charm | CNN

    Opinion: He took 4 teams to the MLB Playoffs. The 5th time was the charm | CNN

    Editor’s Note: Terence Moore is an Atlanta-based national sports columnist and commentator. He’s a CNN sports contributor and a visiting professor of journalism at Miami University in Ohio. Follow him on Twitter @TMooresports and subscribe to his YouTube channel. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion on CNN.



    CNN
     — 

    Before the 2022 World Series, I sent a text to somebody I’ve spent 45 years as a sports journalist covering, first as Major League Baseball player, then as a coach and manager. Over the years, the relationship has evolved into a friendship.

    My text read: “Go Astros! I won’t be there physically at the World Series, but I’ll be there mentally and spiritually cheering for Dusty Baker, along with all the other right-thinking folks.”

    The reply? “Thank you my brother. Dusty.”

    No, thank you, Dusty. You’re an icon, with your ever-present toothpick-in-mouth and wristbands on both arms, exuding charisma just by breathing.

    With your Astros winning 4-1 Saturday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston, you ended this World Series in Game 6 over the Philadelphia Phillies, and showed those facing adversity over the course of years (and years and years) that the answer is perseverance.

    And you proved that a team can win guided by a leader with a positive attitude and a sense of humor – and maybe with the help of a great bullpen, a splendid defense and a slugger like Yordan Alvarez slamming pitches into the other side of the solar system.

    Actually, Alvarez’s three-run homer in the sixth inning traveled only 450 feet over the huge structure behind the center-field fence called the “batter’s eye.” That pushed the Astros from a 1-0 deficit to a 3-1 lead, en route to Baker’s first world championship in his 25th season as a Major League manager.

    No manager in baseball history had won as many career regular season games (2,093) as this 73-year-old eternal optimist, but until Saturday’s win, Baker had never earned a World Series ring.

    He is the only manager to lead five different teams to the playoffs after winning division titles: the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Washington Nationals and the Astros. Most of those Baker-led teams ended their postseason in disaster. Worst of all was 2002, when Baker’s Giants led 5-0 in Game 6 of the best-of-seven World Series against the Anaheim Angels going into the bottom of the 7th, but somehow the Giants failed to win the championship.

    But this time, as Baker stood with others from the Astros organization atop the victory stage, fans still screaming with glee, somebody asked Baker over the PA system if the whole thing had hit him yet.

    “Oh, it’s hit me alright,” the oldest manager ever to win a World Series said, his face beaming with his contagious smile. “It hit me as soon as that ball that (Alvarez) hit over the moon out there. That’s when it hit me.”

    Baker is a devout Christian who surely knows that the Bible is filled with verses counseling patience. When he signed his first Major League contract in 1967 to play outfield for the Atlanta Braves, he was unofficially adopted by future Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron.

    Among other things, Aaron urged Baker to attend church regularly, eat right and never do anything to embarrass himself as a Black man with a high profile. Baker told those stories in the foreword of my book published earlier this year called “The Real Hank Aaron: An Intimate Look at the Life and Legacy of the Home Run King.”

    The late Aaron would be proud of Baker, and so would his late parents, Johnnie Baker Sr. and Christine Baker.

    “My mom and dad taught me perseverance and that you have to believe in yourself,” Baker told Fox Sports after the game.

    In 2017, the Astros won their only other world title – an achievement marred by a scandal over sign-stealing. Major League baseball officials two years later slapped the franchise with a $5 million fine and stripped them of draft picks. The Astros tried to clean up their front office and clubhouse in the aftermath. As part of that effort, they hired Baker, who went from taking the Astros to the American League Championship Series his first season to a second-place finish in last year’s World Series to this: A ring that wasn’t tainted.

    Baker thought about his pre-World Series supporters (including a sports journalist friend), and he said, “There were people of color everywhere I go, and people of non-color. Hey, man. We’re all family.”

    Yes, we are.

    Just sent Baker another text: “Congratulations! Finally!”

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  • No-hitter thrown for just the second time in World Series history as Astros beat Phillies in Game 4 | CNN

    No-hitter thrown for just the second time in World Series history as Astros beat Phillies in Game 4 | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    For just the second time in World Series history, a no-hitter has been thrown as four Houston Astros pitchers completed the feat against the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday night to win 5-0 and secure their place in baseball lore.

    Cristian Javier started Game 4 in the series for the Astros, tossing six innings of no-hit ball, striking out nine and walking two. He threw 97 pitches before being relieved.

    Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero each pitched a perfect inning before Ryan Pressly closed out the Phillies in the ninth at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

    With the win, the Astros even the best-of-seven series at two games apiece, scoring all of their runs in the fifth inning.

    Javier told FOX after the game, via a translator, “It’s funny. My parents told me today I was going to throw a no-hitter, and thanks to God, I was able to accomplish that.” Javier, who hails from the Dominican Republic, later told reporters his father arrived in the US yesterday and saw him pitch for the first time.

    Houston manager Dusty Baker said postgame that he was thinking of Javier and protecting his health when deciding to pull him after the sixth, noting Javier’s increasing pitch count and the strength of the Astros’ bullpen.

    “It’s always tough to take a guy out, but you have to weigh the no-hitter and history versus trying to win this game and get back to 2-2 in the World Series,” Baker said.

    The only previous no-hitter in 118 years of World Series history is Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

    The Astros now hold the distinction of throwing the first combined no-hitter in postseason history, according to Major League Baseball. The only other no-hitter in postseason history was tossed by Roy Halladay for the Phillies in the 2010 National League Divisional Series.

    Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson noted the Phillies had a no-hitter pitched against them by the New York Mets earlier this year, then won the next day.

    “These guys, they got a short memory. They’re going to go home tonight. They’re going to go to bed and come back in here tomorrow and prep and compete like they always do,” Thomson said.

    This is Houston’s second no-hitter this season. On June 25, Javier, Hector Neris and Pressly combined for one against the Yankees.

    Astros catcher Christian Vazquez said of the Game 4 performance that he did not think of completing the no-hitter until “maybe the last inning” due to the potent Phillies lineup, which slugged their way to a Game 3 victory Tuesday.

    “We’ve not finished the job yet, but this is very, very special for us. And when we get old we’re going to remember this,” Vazquez said.

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  • Philadelphia Phillies advance to the World Series for the first time since 2009 | CNN

    Philadelphia Phillies advance to the World Series for the first time since 2009 | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    The Philadelphia Phillies have advanced to the World Series after defeating the San Diego Padres four games to one in the National League Championship Series. The Phillies won Sunday’s decisive Game 5 by a score of 4-3.

    The Phillies trailed in the eighth inning of the game before slugger Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the postseason, to put Philadelphia in front. Harper was named NLCS most valuable player after racking up eight hits, five RBIs and two home runs in the series.

    Philadelphia advances to its first World Series since 2009 and looks for its first championship since 2008.

    The Phillies await the winner of the American League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, which the Astros lead three games to none.

    Philadelphia entered the postseason as the National League’s final wild card team after finishing third place in their division with a regular season record of 87-75.

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