over the house and into the front yard. He then would scamper around to the front, toss the ball up in the air again, and hit it over the roof and into the backyard. He would continue the practice, hitting the ball over and overâeffectively playing a game of tennis with himself, albeit with the instruments he would employ throughout the rest of his lifeâuntil he got bored or tired or it got too dark.
"Every day," Judy Wakefield said by way of describing her son's affection for the game. Baseball "was his life" even at a young age. "He played his first game at five [years old]," she recalled. "He played T-ball, and then he never stopped. I think he played every year after that. We could see in Little League [that he was advanced]. He just kept getting better."
During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, there were no major league teams in Florida, but the state was home to some of the better college programs in the country and the weather was conducive for baseball. In the late winter and early spring, major league teams trained throughout the state. Minor league clubs were scattered about Florida, a good many of them in the Class A Florida State League, where teams sent draftees and prospects to begin playing in the earlier stages of their development. From Little League through high school and college, the baseball season in Florida was much longer than in most other parts of the country, a fact that paid obvious dividends for the boys and girls raised there who dreamed about playing outdoor sports.
If Tim Wakefield wanted to play baseball almost every day, he couldâand he did. There was nothing to prevent him from doing so. Like other boys growing up in California, Arizona, Texas, and Floridaâstates that would produce nearly half of all professional play
ers drafted or signed during the 30-year period from 1965 to 1994, the period during which Wakefield grew upâWakefield had the advantage of endless practice time to reinforce his obsession with baseball. In short, Tim Wakefield grew up in a baseball hotbed that allowed him to develop and cultivate his talents even though, until the early 1990s, the state of Florida still lacked something that it desperately wanted, something that would further validate its place as a baseball breeding ground.
A major league team.
Wakefield adopted the Atlanta Braves as his team of choice, largely because the Braves were the closest major league team to Melbourne. His favorite player was Dale Murphy, the multitalented Braves slugger who won consecutive Most Valuable Player Awards in 1982 and 1983 and who had slowly matured into one of the most complete players in baseball. During his prime, Murphy was a Gold Glove outfielder and elite hitter who once stole as many as 30 bases in a season, a man whose skills were so comprehensive that he could do just about anything on a baseball diamond. Murphy had caught and played in both the infield and the outfield, he could hit for average and power, and he could run, throw, and play defense. Murphy played hard and played hurt, and his durability was legendary. During the heart of his career, an 11-year period that began in 1980 and ran through 1990, Murphy never missed more than eight games in any season, and at one point he played four consecutive seasons in which he appeared in the maximum 162 games.
Dale Murphy, like Steve Wakefield, almost never missed a day of work.
And like Tim Wakefield would later prove on the pitcher's mound, Murphy could contribute to his team at a number of different positions and with a number of different skills.
That's who I want to be.
Wakefield was a skilled athlete as a boy and teen in Melbourne, having inherited the athletic ability of his father (though Steve Wakefield never played baseball). Wakefield's sister Kelly also was innately athletic, though she later lost interest in the gameâshe played softball for
a timeâand in sports altogether. For Wakefield, the opposite was true.
"Every day," Judy Wakefield said by way of describing her son's affection for the game. Baseball "was his life" even at a young age. "He played his first game at five [years old]," she recalled. "He played T-ball, and then he never stopped. I think he played every year after that. We could see in Little League [that he was advanced]. He just kept getting better."
During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, there were no major league teams in Florida, but the state was home to some of the better college programs in the country and the weather was conducive for baseball. In the late winter and early spring, major league teams trained throughout the state. Minor league clubs were scattered about Florida, a good many of them in the Class A Florida State League, where teams sent draftees and prospects to begin playing in the earlier stages of their development. From Little League through high school and college, the baseball season in Florida was much longer than in most other parts of the country, a fact that paid obvious dividends for the boys and girls raised there who dreamed about playing outdoor sports.
If Tim Wakefield wanted to play baseball almost every day, he couldâand he did. There was nothing to prevent him from doing so. Like other boys growing up in California, Arizona, Texas, and Floridaâstates that would produce nearly half of all professional play
ers drafted or signed during the 30-year period from 1965 to 1994, the period during which Wakefield grew upâWakefield had the advantage of endless practice time to reinforce his obsession with baseball. In short, Tim Wakefield grew up in a baseball hotbed that allowed him to develop and cultivate his talents even though, until the early 1990s, the state of Florida still lacked something that it desperately wanted, something that would further validate its place as a baseball breeding ground.
A major league team.
Wakefield adopted the Atlanta Braves as his team of choice, largely because the Braves were the closest major league team to Melbourne. His favorite player was Dale Murphy, the multitalented Braves slugger who won consecutive Most Valuable Player Awards in 1982 and 1983 and who had slowly matured into one of the most complete players in baseball. During his prime, Murphy was a Gold Glove outfielder and elite hitter who once stole as many as 30 bases in a season, a man whose skills were so comprehensive that he could do just about anything on a baseball diamond. Murphy had caught and played in both the infield and the outfield, he could hit for average and power, and he could run, throw, and play defense. Murphy played hard and played hurt, and his durability was legendary. During the heart of his career, an 11-year period that began in 1980 and ran through 1990, Murphy never missed more than eight games in any season, and at one point he played four consecutive seasons in which he appeared in the maximum 162 games.
Dale Murphy, like Steve Wakefield, almost never missed a day of work.
And like Tim Wakefield would later prove on the pitcher's mound, Murphy could contribute to his team at a number of different positions and with a number of different skills.
That's who I want to be.
Wakefield was a skilled athlete as a boy and teen in Melbourne, having inherited the athletic ability of his father (though Steve Wakefield never played baseball). Wakefield's sister Kelly also was innately athletic, though she later lost interest in the gameâshe played softball for
a timeâand in sports altogether. For Wakefield, the opposite was true.
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