Varitek, Wakefield Named to Red Sox Hall of Fame
By Blake Yagman
Their place in Red Sox lure is now cemented: the Red Sox Hall of Fame have immortalized four new legends.
Last night, the Boston Red Sox added Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Ira Flagstead and Larry Lucchino to the team’s hall. This year’s class, diverse in their achievements and unified by cause, is truly special.
Varitek, Wakefield and Lucchino conjure memories of something immeasurable– no specific statistic or anything that can be recorded, but the exorcism of a curse. Through their efforts, Red Sox nation finally felt the joy of a championship for the first time in 86 years.
Jason Varitek
After being traded from the Seattle Mariners in 1997 with former Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe, Jason Varitek would spend the next fifteen years behind home plate for Boston. The switch-hitting Varitek was the last player to be named captain of the Boston Red Sox; he won two World Series in Boston, as well as Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards (both in 2005).
Affectionately known as ‘Tek, Jason Varitek was the embodiment of toughness; the type of player that every boy (including myself) wanted to grow up to become. Over the course of his career with the Red Sox, the former captain’s finest moments included a pulverizing of Alex Rodriguez, catching a record four no-hitters, and his steady handling of the pitching staff. Currently, Jason Varitek is an assistant General Manager for the Red Sox; I expect him to be named manager of a major league team in the relative future.
Tim Wakefield
Tim Wakefield’s story is a profile in persistence. After being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a first-baseman, ‘Wake’ struggled to adjust at the plate to professional pitching. In a moment of baseball divine intervention, he caught a scout’s eye throwing a knuckleball. Wakefield reinvented himself in the Pittsburgh minor-league system as one of the game’s rarest creatures: a knuckleball pitcher.
Pittsburgh would go on to cut Wakefield after the 1993 MLB player’s strike. Sad!
Tim Wakefield’s 186 wins as a pitcher are third most in Red Sox history– behind two of the greatest pitchers ever to touch a baseball, Roger Clemens and Cy Young. Wake’s gravity defying knuckler helped the Sox go on to break the curse of the Bambino (though Wake himself was implicated in the curse by way of Aaron Boone), winning two World Series in Boston in 2004 and 2007.
Ira Flagstead
Ira Flagstead is the OG of this year’s class. In the seven years Flagstead played in Boston, the Pedroia-sized outfielder finished five times in the top-25 of MVP voting. Flagstead, who roamed the Fenway grass from 1923 to 1929, has ancient roots in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry: he clashed with titans such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig’s on the “Murderers Row” Yankee teams of the late 1920’s.
Flagstead still holds the Major League record for the starting three triple plays in one game as an outfielder; “Flaggy,” as he is referred to in a 1928 newspaper, would retire to the Pacific Northwest where he would spend the remainder of his days Salmon fishing.
Larry Lucchino
Larry Lucchino is the only member of this year’s Red Sox class not to play for the team. The former Chief Executive Officer and President of the Red Sox helped John Henry’s ownership group acquire the team in 2002. Lucchino’s efforts with the team include the introduction of seats on the Green Monster, as well as the other renovations that have taken place to preserve Fenway Park. Lucchino worked for the team for 14 years, retiring in 2015.
During Larry Lucchino’s tenure as CEO/President of the Red Sox, the team won two-World Series. Also, a lesser known fact: Lucchino’s high school alma mater, Taylor Allderdice High School, boasts an alumni list including rappers Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller, as well as former Patriots RB Curtis Martin.
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