schiraldi, I understand why you?re feeling a little nasty about Wakefield this morning. One thing is clear: his knuckler presents no puzzle whatsoever to the Yankees. And there?s something else that?s been haunting me about Wakefield. It?s the theory that reader MSGiro put forth in response to the same May 11 ?Jayson Stark? post. MSGiro has noticed that Wakefield seems to be lights out in Spring and Fall, but gets shelled in the Summer. MSGiro thinks that it may all be due to the effect of water vapor on the knuckler. The more humidity, the less it dances. Sure enough, last night the temperature was 82 degrees and it was obviously humid after a rain delay. So I checked back a bit through Wakefield?s games this year and the first one where he really stunk was May 15 against the Tigers in Fenway. The temperature was 80 degrees. When you consider how the knuckler works, dipping and darting on air currents, doesn?t this seem very possible?
I like Tim Wakefield, but I don?t like the idea of relying a pitcher who?s at the mercy of the elements and whose worst games come against the Yankees.
