Timothy Stephen Wakefield was an American professional baseball knuckleball pitcher. Wakefield began his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but is most remembered for his 17-year tenure with the Boston Red Sox, from 1995 until his retirement in 2012 as the longest-serving player on the team, earning a total of $55 million. When he retired at age 45 after 19 seasons in MLB, Wakefield was the oldest active player in the major leagues.

The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award established in 1946 by Sporting News. For the first three years (1946–1948) and again in 1950, there was a single award. In 1949 and since 1951, the award has been given to a rookie from both the American League and National League. In 1961 and from 1963 through 2003, Sporting News split the rookie award into two separate categories, Rookie Pitcher of the Year and Rookie Player of the Year. In 2004 those two awards were discontinued, in favor of a single award, one for each league.