How Tim Wakefield Inspired Garrett Whitlock’s Commitment To Jimmy Fund

Tim Wakefield left a lasting legacy in Boston, both on and off the baseball field.

Red Sox fans never will forget Wakefield's contributions on the mound over the course of his 17-year run with the storied franchise. But the late knuckleballer arguably will be remembered more for his work in the community, specifically with the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Garrett Whitlock is among the countless people who were inspired by Wakefield's philanthropic efforts. The Red Sox pitcher, who served as Jimmy Fund captain this year, opened up about Wakefield's impact on the latest episode of NESN's "310 To Left" podcast.

"I don't think you can find another person who's had a more lasting effect on a community or a place than Tim Wakefield has had in Boston and with the Jimmy Fund in particular," Whitlock told hosts Tom Caron and Alex Speier. "I wasn't fortunate enough to be able to talk with him a lot and discuss everything, but you feel everything he's done talking to anyone. Everything this year we've been wanting to do in honor of Tim and everything he did. You feel that lasting impact walking into the clinic, talking to the staff. We keep bringing up Miss Lisa (Scherber) because of the amazing hero that she is. She keeps being like, 'Man, you know, this is great. This reminds me so much of what Tim used to do. Tim used to do X, Y and Z. This is fantastic.'

"It's amazing to see the infectious personality that he had, the joy that he brought. He really leaves a piece of his heart with this community, with the people, with the faculty, with the patients. It's one of those things you want to honor, you want to remember. He was the pioneer in this modern era of saying, 'Yes, there's always been a connection with the Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund. We're going to take it a step further and we're going to make this extremely personal. We're going to make this extremely unique and forge that bond even stronger.'"

Fans can continue to honor Wakefield by donating to the Jimmy Fund during this year's WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, which will run through Wednesday evening.