February 17th update

Wakefield calls it a career

• Starting pitcher Tim Wakefield, one of the only pitchers to prominently feature a knuckleball left in the majors, is retiring after 17 seasons and 184 wins with the Boston Red Sox (He spent a couple years with the Pittsburgh Pirates before he signed with Boston). The 184 wins are only 6 short of the all-time Red Sox record, shared by Roger Clemens and Cy Young (for whom the award is named), but Wakefield decided not to pursue that record by playing in 2012.
• Wakefield's 17 years of service with the franchise is exceeded by only three players: Carl Yastrzemski (23), Ted Williams (19) and Dwight Evans (19), and the amazing thing is that when he was drafted, it was as a position player not a pitcher. But when he learned that he probably would not have much of a future as a position player, he developed the quirky knuckleball and spent the better part of 3 decades befuddling hitters.
• He was a vital part of the Red Sox World Series teams in 2004 and 2007, winning 17 games in 2007 (he won 17 in 1998 also) and even serving as the team's close from time to time. But this past year, while Boston was collapsing in one of the biggest debacles of the modern era, Wakefield tried, and failed, to stop the bleeding.
• His teammates felt that even though he still gave it his all and didn't seem to be burned out, it was a good time to hang up the cleats so he could be with his family. He won his 200th game last year, an impressive mark for anyone, much less someone who was never supposed to pitch.


Last big NBA free agents sign

• Power Forward Kenyon Martin and Shooting Guard J.R. Smith, teammates for the last few years with the Denver Nuggets and two of the biggest players to sign guaranteed contracts to play in China this year (they did so when it was still questionable whether or not the NBA would play their season due to the lockout) finally signed over the past week, Smith with the New York Knicks and Martin with the L.A. Clippers where they will play with arguably the two most exciting players in the NBA right now, Jeremy Lin and Blake Griffin respectively.
• The Clippers, who also feature Chris Paul are the second best team in the West and the Knicks are barely in the top 8, but since Lin has started playing, they are 7-0. Martin, who is a former #1 overall pick but will be starting his 12th season, is mostly known as a defensive player now after seeing his offensive stats slip over the past few years. Smith, on the other hand, is still trending upwards and will possibly be the starting SG, making a starting 5 of Lin, Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler, all of whom are veterans with impressive NBA resumes (except Lin, but you already know about him)!