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 announced he and his wife will ride in the cross-state fundraising event 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 fundraising event in the country raising more than billion for cancer recovery and research since with multiple of the riders dedicating their effort to friends and family who have died of the infection PMC is good therapy event founder Billy Starr commented 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 multiple 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 remedy 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 group 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 public involvement in and serving as the Red Sox nominee seven other times He was the company 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 group 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 finding He stated I m riding next year I explained We ll still be here and you will be welcome of subject Starr reported And then Whoa He went so hastily 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 disclosed 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 perpetually been inspirational and doing stuff around the locality Timlin announced 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 narrated me my butt s going to be really sore Mike Timlin explained You get back on your bike the second day you re allegedly not going to want to see that bike ever again But she declared the best part about it is you meet so several 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 society 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 specific tight roads that you have to ride on So yes it s quite the challenge he explained You ve got to be real careful all the time