BOSTON (AP) — Mike Timlin, a former teammate, will bike in the Pan-Mass Challenge for Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who was unable to do so.
Timlin, who shared two World Series victories with Wakefield, announced that he and his spouse will participate in the cross-state fundraising event this summer in honor of the teammate and friend who passed away from brain cancer in 2023. Since 1980, the Pan-Mass Challenge has raised over $1 billion for cancer treatment and research, making it the nation’s greatest single-event sporting fundraiser. Many of the riders dedicate their efforts to friends and family who have lost their lives to the disease.
Billy Starr, the founder of the event, told The Associated Press via video conference that PMC is effective therapy. It is among our most effective sales tools.
The PMC, a one-and-two-day bike ride of up to 186 miles that Starr came up with in 1980 when his mother passed away from cancer, has expanded to encompass 15 distinct routes throughout the state, with many cyclists finishing in Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod. Nearly 7,000 riders will compete this August in an effort to raise $76 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the top institutions in the country for cancer research and treatment.
When the Red Sox lost to the Yankees in the 2003 AL Championship Series, Timlin and Wakefield shared a clubhouse. The next season, the team won the entire series, ending the team’s 86-year championship drought. Only Carl Yastrzemski, Dwight Evans, and Ted Williams played more seasons for the Red Sox than Wakefield, who rode his vintage knuckleball into the Red Sox record books as the third-winningest pitcher in team history, behind Roger Clemens and Cy Young. Both pitchers pitched into their 40s.
More significantly, Wakefield was a philanthropic workhouse who was nominated seven times by the Red Sox and won baseball’s Roberto Clemente Award for sportsmanship and community service in 2010. In addition to serving as the honorary chairman of the Red Sox Foundation, he visited with patients and raised money for the kids cancer charity as the team’s first Jimmy Fund captain.
After retiring in 2012, Wakefield continued to assist on the team’s broadcasts, and he approached Starr in the booth at Fenway Park for PMC Day in 2023. The athlete had not yet disclosed his diagnosis to the public.
“Next year, I’m riding,” he remarked. “You’re welcome, of course,” I replied, adding that we would still be present. Then: Whoa. He went downhill quite fast.
Wakefield passed away less than three months later. Stacy, his wife, also passed away from cancer later that off-season.
We’ve all witnessed it. It’s terrible and has affected all of us. According to Timlin this week, “It kind of drives me to do this because I know that one of my friends had to go through that and his wife had to go through it.” You don’t want to witness the tragedy befall someone else’s family. And take action to stop that, if you can, even if it’s only slightly.
Baseball and beyond lamented Wakefield’s passing.
According to Timlin, Wake has always been an inspiration and involved in community service. He was a strong advocate for children’s charities and setting a good example. We simply attempt to imitate his abilities.
Timlin and his wife, Dawn, are now empty-nesters in Colorado, and they have taken advantage of the outdoors by going on 60-mile trail rides and other off-road activities. When Mike was in Boston for the final six seasons of his 18-year major league career, Dawn Timlin rode in the PMC four times.
According to Mike Timlin, she warned me that my butt would hurt a lot. You will most likely never want to see that bike again after you get back on it on the second day.
She did, however, add that the best thing about it is that you get to know a lot of new people and that it’s sort of cool how you make friends with strangers. That’s all there is to it. simply meeting new people and taking part in a community activity.
After his Red Sox career ended, Timlin believed he might be done with Boston drivers, but that was sufficient to get him back on the road.
You have to travel on some narrow roads, after all. So, absolutely, he said, it’s quite the challenge. You must always exercise extreme caution.
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