Tim Wakefield Convinced Red Sox Teammates to Give Cash from World Series Win to Team Staffer to Buy House (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Tim Wakefield on Aug. 3, 2011.Photo:Jim Rogash/Getty

Jim Rogash/Getty

The lateTim Wakefield’s generosity knew no bounds, as the director behind Netflix’s new docuseriesThe Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Soxexperienced firsthand.

Colin Barnicleis a documentary film director who grew up in the Boston area and worked for the Red Sox as a clubhouse attendant between 2005 and 2007. While Barnicle was not working for the Red Sox in 2004, he first got to know the late Wakefield, whodied last year at age 57, while working for the ballclub the following season.

When the Red Sox won the World Series at the conclusion of the 2007 MLB season, Barnicle tells PEOPLE, the team’s players elected to give Barnicle a partial share of a monetary bonus they received that he says was “in the tens of thousands of dollars.”

Barnicle says that he and his wife eventually used the money the Red Sox — and Wakefield — granted him for a down payment on a home. “So in a very direct way, Tim Wakefield has completely helped my life,” he tells PEOPLE.

Boston Red Sox on Oct. 28, 2007.Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty

Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty

While conducting interviews for the new Netflix series, the filmmaker noticed that many of Wakefield’s former Red Sox teammates (he pitched for Boston between 1995 and 2011) rememberedthe two-time champion’s generous spirit.

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“This is a guy who did that for everybody. He was a huge team leader. And the way that the players talk about him and his death actually helped us in a way with the interviews,” Barnicle says. “Each player was more present. They realized that this was such a huge deal in ‘03 and ‘04 and what they did. They were thinking about Wakefield and time they spent around him, and the idea that they were talking about something that was living and breathing to them, like a memory that was living and breathing became more present after Tim’s passing. This team is so close.”

Tim Wakefield on Feb. 28, 2004.Jed Jacobsohn/Getty

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty

Wakefield was a pivotal member of Boston’s World Series teams in both 2004 and 2007 and a fan favorite in Boston, whom Barnicle remembers was nicknamed “the Heavy” in the team’s clubhouse. While speaking with PEOPLE, Barnicle noted that at least one Red Sox player from that 2004 season moved back to Massachusetts to be closer to Wakefield’s family after his death. (Wakefield’s wife Stacydied in February, just five months after her husband’s death. The couple shared two children.)

“It wasn’t just like, ‘This is a great, we were a close team and 20 years later, I’ll see you again at a reunion,’ " Barnicle adds, while reflecting on the bond Red Sox alumni share 20 years after their 2004 World Series win. “These are guys who really, truly loved each other and loved each other’s families and hung out all the time.”

The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Soxis streaming on Netflix now.

source: people.com