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Littlefield On Sports: Wakefield Notches 200th Win

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The Red Sox' Tim Wakefield delivers a pitch against the Blue Jays. (AP)
The Red Sox' Tim Wakefield delivers a pitch against the Blue Jays. (AP)

"Worth the wait."

That's how Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield described his 200th career victory on Tuesday at Fenway Park.

The win didn't come easy for the 45-year-old, who became a fixture on the Red Sox pitching staff back in 1995. It took the knuckleballer 625 games over 19 seasons to reach a milestone that just 89 pitchers have hit in baseball's modern era. What might be most impressive of all, is that Wakefield reached No. 200 using one of the most unconventional pitches in all of baseball: the knuckleball.

It's a pitch that Wakefield used to just throw to teammates casually during practice. It was only when a coach noticed the former first baseman using the pitch in practice, that his career as a big league hurler was born. As Wakefield told WBUR's Only A Game in April:

It became my source of survival, so to speak ... I was on my way out, I was going to be released and my coach, Woody Huyke, saw it in me and it became what I needed to survive.

Guest:

This segment aired on September 14, 2011.

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