Well, on the verge might be a little premature. But did you know that this man, who celebrated his 41st birthday with a 7-4 win today over the Orioles, now leads the American League (along with five others) with 13 wins?That's right, Tim Wakefield--the guy who just drives you crazy because you never know when he'll suddenly walk three in a row; the guy who has saddled the Red Sox with the unbearably bad Doug Mirabelli (today's three hits notwithstanding); the guy who doesn't get any respect because he doesn't throw hard, yet has almost identical statistics this season as Curt Schilling; the guy who is third all-time in Red Sox wins (behind only Cy Young and Roger Clemens, maybe the two greatest pitchers of alltime)--is on pace to lead the league in victories.
If Tim Wakefield wins seven of his remaining starts (he should have 11 starts remaining), he would become the only pitcher in history to put up his first 20 win season after the age of 40. In fact, he would be only the sixth pitcher in 131 years to win 20 or more games after 40. Here are the seven 20-win seasons by 40-year olds:
| PLAYER | AGE | W | YEAR | Age First | Total 20 |
| Warren Spahn | 42 | 23 | 1963 | 26 | 13 |
| Jamie Moyer | 40 | 21 | 2003 | 38 | 2 |
| Phil Niekro | 40 | 21 | 1979 | 30 | 3 |
| Warren Spahn | 40 | 21 | 1961 | 26 | 13 |
| Pete Alexander | 40 | 21 | 1927 | 24 | 9 |
| Cy Young | 41 | 21 | 1908 | 24 | 15 |
| Cy Young | 40 | 21 | 1907 | 24 | 15 |
Cy Young and Warren Spahn each did it twice, but they also each had over a dozen 20-win seasons, starting in their mid 20s. Only Jamie Moyer was in the later stages of his career when he first won 20 games, achieving the milestone at age 38.
Tags: Boston Red Sox Tim Wakefield 02215
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