The Seattle Mariners completed their only trip of the season to Fenway Park on Wednesday. George Kirby, who started the game for the Mariners, paid tribute to a late Boston Red Sox legend during his start.
Tim Wakefield, who spent most of his MLB career pitching for the Boston Red Sox, passed away on Oct. 1, 2023, after a long fight with brain cancer. Wakefield was known as a knuckleball pitcher. Despite not being a knuckleballer, Kirby threw the unique pitch with his first offering of the game.
MLB shared the tribute on X (formerly Twitter) as well as a quote from Kirby who said of Wakefield, “He was a special player. So just being able to do it here in Boston was pretty cool.”
George Kirby threw a knuckleball to begin Wednesday’s game against the Red Sox to pay tribute to Tim Wakefield ❤️
“He was a special player. So just being able to do it here in Boston was pretty cool.” – George Kirby pic.twitter.com/3vLyb7yEGZ
— MLB (@MLB) August 1, 2024
Daniel Kramer of MLB.com and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times both confirmed on X after the game that the pitch was a tribute to Wakefield.
“George Kirby said that his first pitch today was indeed a knuckleball and indeed a tribute to Tim Wakefield,” Kramer shared. “He’s been thinking about it for 2-3 weeks, when he knew he’d start here today.”
George Kirby said that his first pitch today was indeed a knuckleball and indeed a tribute to Tim Wakefield. He’s been thinking about it for 2-3 weeks, when he knew he’d start here today.
“He was a special player. So just being able to do it here in Boston was pretty cool.”
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) July 31, 2024
“George Kirby said he threw the first pitch knuckleball as a tribute to Tim Wakefield,’ noted Divish. “He’d been thinking about it for a few weeks. He wished he’d executed it better.”
George Kirby said he threw the first pitch knuckleball as a tribute to Tim Wakefield. He’d been thinking about it for a few weeks. He wished he’d executed it better
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) July 31, 2024
The Red Sox have been wearing a heart-shaped patch with Wakefield’s No. 49 on their jerseys all season.
[MLB on X, Daniel Kramer on X, Ryan Divish on X]
