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Red Sox History: The 10 best moments from Boston’s 2002 season

By Daniel Fox

Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated by teammates after hitting a homer in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees 24 May 2002 at Fenway Park in Boston Massachusetts. AFP PHOTO/JOHN MOTTERN (Photo by JOHN MOTTERN / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MOTTERN/AFP via Getty Images)
Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated by teammates after hitting a homer in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees 24 May 2002 at Fenway Park in Boston Massachusetts. AFP PHOTO/JOHN MOTTERN (Photo by JOHN MOTTERN / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MOTTERN/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield delivers a pitch against the Cleveland Indians on 01 September, 2002 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, OH. Boston defeated Cleveland 7-1.AFP PHOTO/David Maxwell (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL / AFP) (Photo credit should read DAVID MAXWELL/AFP via Getty Images)
Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield delivers a pitch against the Cleveland Indians on 01 September, 2002 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, OH. Boston defeated Cleveland 7-1.AFP PHOTO/David Maxwell (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL / AFP) (Photo credit should read DAVID MAXWELL/AFP via Getty Images) /

August 11th: Wakefield’s Milestone Win

Red Sox 3 – Twins 1

After co-aces Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez, Tim Wakefield was the most valuable pitcher on the 2002 Red Sox. Whatever the Red Sox needed to do, he did: After spending most of the first half in the season as a versatile reliever, Wakefield moved back to the rotation full-time in late July and had a 2.01 ERA over his last 11 starts. The result was a career-high 2.63 K/BB ratio and a career-low 2.81 ERA.

Wakefield’s finest moment of the season came on August 11, when he outdueled the up-and-coming Johan Santana for the 100th win of his career. For a former first baseman who didn’t pitch his first full season until age 28, winning 100 games was a monumental achievement for Wakefield.

Pitching had the upper hand early on in this affair, as Santana and Wakefield traded zeroes through five innings. The Red Sox finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth, as Jonny Damon’s RBI double finally put a run on the board. Shea Hillenbrand added a sacrifice fly, and the Red Sox took a 2-0 lead into the seventh.

The Twins finally got something going against Wakefield, as a double from Christian Guzman and a single from Torii Hunter brought the deficit to one. That was all they would get, however, as Wakefield retired the final six batters he faced and exited after eight fantastic innings. The Red Sox added an insurance run on a Nomar Garciaparra RBI double, and Ugueth Urbina sealed the win with a 1-2-3 ninth.

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