There were periods when Wakefield was really amazingly valuable and had some great runs. That stretch in, what was it, 1995? When he started the year something like 15-1, and he shut down the A's twice in three days ... just amazing stretch of knuckleball pitching. You never knew when he'd go on a tear and rip off a few weeks of shut-down pitching. And back when he could mix up speeds and throw different knuckleballs, he was actually fairly interesting to watch. Lately, he's been excruciating, but there ya go ...

I remember how devastated he was at giving up Aaron Boone's homerun, and he thought he was going to be like Bill Buckner in Boston. Pretty much everyone knew that wasn't going to be true, tho ... by the time that happened, I was just waiting for the end I knew was coming.