Peter Abraham had a great post about the shared history of Derek Jeter and Tim Wakefield a couple of days ago.
They first met on July 15, 1996 at Fenway Park. Jeter, batting leadoff, doubled the first time he faced Wakefield. But Wakefield stuck around for five innings and got the win in an 8-6 Red Sox victory. Every other player who got in that game has retired.
The Red Sox lineup
Jeff Frye 2B
John Valentin SS
Mo Vaughn 1B
Jose Canseco DH
Tim Naehring 3B
Reggie Jefferson LF
Mike Stanley C
Troy O'Leary RF
Lee Tinsley CF
Tim Wakefield RHPThe Yankees lineup
Derek Jeter SS
Bernie Williams CF
Paul O'Neill RF
Darryl Strawberry DH
Tino Martinez 1B
Mariano Duncan 2B
Jim Leyritz C
Gerald Williams LF
Andy Fox 3B
Ramiro Mendoza RHP[Then-]Yankees manager Joe Girardi pinch hit in that game.
It's a remarkable history. It seems quite likely, in fact, that no Yankee player has faced a Red Sox player as often as Wakefield and Jeter have — 130 times now, including the postseason. It requires one of the teams to have a hitter and the other to have a pitcher whose careers overlap for 15 years or more. That's incredibly rare.
Wakefield's gotten the better of the matchups lately. Last night's fifth-inning double was the first hit Jeter recorded against Wakefield in 13 plate appearances, with one walk, dating back to the beginning of 2009.
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