Ex-Red Sox pitcher Mike Timlin to ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge in memory of teammate Tim Wakefield

BOSTON AP Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield didn t get the chance to ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge so former teammate Mike Timlin will do it for him Timlin who won two World Series titles alongside Wakefield commented he and his wife will ride in the cross-state charity fundraiser this summer in the memory of the friend and teammate who died in of brain cancer The Pan-Mass Challenge is the largest single-event athletic charity fundraiser in the country raising more than billion for cancer therapy and research since with a multitude of of the riders dedicating their effort to friends and family who have died of the infection PMC is good therapy event founder Billy Starr disclosed in a video call with The Associated Press It s one of our great sales tools Conceived in by Starr after his mother died of cancer the PMC is a one- and two-day bike ride of up to miles that has grown to include different routes across the state with various riders ending in Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod This August nearly riders will mount up with the goal of raising million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute one of the nation s leading cancer cure and research hospitals Timlin and Wakefield shared a clubhouse when the Red Sox collapsed in the AL Championship Series against the Yankees then came back the following season to win it all and ending the franchise s -year championship drought Both pitched into their s with Wakefield riding his old-timey knuckleball into the Red Sox record books as the third-winningest pitcher in crew history trailing Cy Young and Roger Clemens only Carl Yastrzemski Dwight Evans and Ted Williams played more seasons for the Red Sox More importantly Wakefield was a charitable workhouse winning baseball s Roberto Clemente Award for sportsmanship and locality involvement in and serving as the Red Sox nominee seven other times He was the crew s first Jimmy Fund captain visiting with patients and raising funds for the childhood cancer charity and the honorary chairman of the Red Sox Foundation Wakefield worked on the unit s broadcasts after retiring in and it was in the booth during PMC Day at Fenway Park in when he approached Starr The ballplayer had not yet gone population with his assessment He mentioned I m riding next year I reported We ll still be here and you will be welcome of lesson Starr commented And then Whoa He went so fleetly downhill Less than three months later Wakefield died Later that offseason his wife Stacy also died of cancer We ve all seen it We ve all been touched by it it s awful And knowing that one of my buddies had had to go through that and his wife had to go through it it kind of drives me to do this Timlin reported this week You don t want to see someone else s family go through the tragedy And if you can prevent that even in a small way then do so Wakefield s death was mourned across baseball and beyond Wake has unfailingly been inspirational and doing stuff around the district Timlin declared He was very high on kids charities and leading by example We try to just emulate what he could do Now empty-nesters living in Colorado Timlin and his wife Dawn have participated in -mile trail rides and other off-road events to take advantage of the outdoors Dawn Timlin rode in the PMC four times when Mike spent the last six seasons of an -year major league career in Boston She advised me my butt s going to be really sore Mike Timlin revealed You get back on your bike the second day you re presumably not going to want to see that bike ever again But she mentioned the best part about it is you meet so multiple new people and it is kind of amazing how you form a camaraderie with people you don t even know he revealed That s the whole part about it Just doing something as a region and getting to know new people And that was enough to get Timlin who thought he might have been done with Boston drivers when his career with the Red Sox was over back on the road I mean there are particular tight roads that you have to ride on So yes it s quite the challenge he declared You ve got to be real careful all the time