Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby took a different approach with the first pitch he threw Wednesday evening against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
It was Kirby’s way of paying tribute to Red Sox great Tim Wakefield.
Kirby opened up his outing by tossing Wakefield’s signature knuckleball to leadoff hitter Jarren Duran. Kirby’s knuckler certainly wasn’t as polished as Wakefield’s with the 73 mph pitch staying up and out of the zone for a ball.
This isn’t the first time Kirby honored Wakefield in this way. The 26-year-old threw a knuckleball in a game for the first time in the 2023 regular-season finale against Texas Ranger star Corey Seager. Wakefield died that day at the age of 57.
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“I loved watching that guy throw, even though he’s a Red Sox player and I’m a born Yankee fan,” Kirby told reporters following that game, per MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer. “But yeah, it was a great day to throw it and I’m glad Seager missed it and didn’t take it deep. So, yeah that was fun.”
The rare knuckleball has already been seen on the mound at Fenway this season. San Diego Padres pitcher Michael Waldron, who was mentored by Wakefield, threw 31 of them during an emotional start against the Red Sox a month ago.
Featured image via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
