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BALTIMORE – Manager Alex Cora always wears a Red Sox pullover sweatshirt instead of a jersey in the dugout.

Not on Sunday.

Roughly a half hour before first pitch on the final day of the regular season, the Red Sox received the tragic news of the passing of longtime pitcher Tim Wakefield at the age of 57 after a battle with brain cancer. The news shocked the baseball world and left the Red Sox reeling before the final game of the season.

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“Everybody had their jerseys on in the dugout,” Cora said after the game. “It was a tribute to him because of all the guys I played with, nobody wore his jersey with more pride than Tim Wakefield.”

Wakefield, a two-time World Series champion in 2004 and 2007, not only was one of the organization’s longest-tenured players, having spent 17 years with the club from 1995 to his retirement in 2011, but he had as much, if not more, of an impact off the field as the organization’s first Jimmy Fund Captain in 2007. He was a Roberto Clemente Award winner in 2010 and impacted countless lives through his various charitable endeavors across the New England community. He remained closely tied to the organization following his retirement working as a Red Sox advisor as well as on NESN’s pre- and post-game team since 2012. He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2016.

Cora, who played with Wakefield from 2005 to 2008 in Boston, often speaks about the importance of life outside of baseball, especially in the city’s pressure cooker atmosphere. On Sunday after Game 162, he reiterated that sentiment, noting that it was only 16 days ago that he last saw Wakefield, who he’d just learned was battling an illness.

“It’s another reminder that 162 is just a game, it’s just a freaking game,” Cora said. “I saw him Sept. 14 and he went to my office and he was having his (surgery) the next day. He was just a regular guy, just talking to me, talking about baseball and he said, ‘I’ll be fine. I’m going to be fine.’”

Terry Francona, managing the final game of his soon-to-be Hall-of-Fame career, had a hard time focusing after learning the news on Sunday in Detroit. Both Francona and pitching coach Carl Willis were close with Wakefield from their time in Boston.

“It’s like getting kicked in the stomach,” Francona said. “I’m not saying (the words) very good because there is no good way. … We were trying to enjoy the day and we found out about a half hour before the game and every time I’d start to (think) — I’d be like, ‘Golly, man.’ It’s very difficult.”

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A somber atmosphere permeated all corners of the Red Sox clubhouse — from players who had only just met Wakefield, to executives who’ve known him for years, to longtime former teammates who now work on the coaching staff.

Jason Varitek, the stoic former catcher of the Red Sox and current game-planning coordinator, was teammates with Wakefield for his entire 15-year career. Varitek and Wakefield retired the same year in 2011 and remained close friends.

After Sunday’s game, Varitek leaned against a couch in the clubhouse for support as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“I’ll do the best I can,” he said trying to gather his emotions and find the words to describe the surreal nature of losing Wakefield so suddenly.

“I don’t know if I have to tell you anything, I think I’m showing it,” he said. “I’ve always said it, Wake, he exemplifies what this uniform is. And it’s not just the name on the back. It’s the name on the front. It’s what he’s done in the community, what he’s represented, where he respected the game. … He exemplifies what it means to be a Red Sox and what it means to be a professional. Wonderful dad, great husband, been through a lot.”

At Camden Yards, the Orioles held a moment of silence before the game for Wakefield, the announcement met by an audible gasp from the crowd, many of whom were hearing the news for the first time.

“The Orioles join the Red Sox in sending our love to the Wakefield family,” the Orioles public address announcer said.

NESN opened its broadcast on Sunday with play-by-play announcer Dave O’Brien reading a statement from the team before adding his own sentiments.

“Condolences pouring in from all of you,” O’Brien said. “We thank you. God bless the Wakefield family.”

Kevin Youkilis, who served as an analyst on NESN alongside O’Brien for the series in Baltimore, was teammates with Wakefield from 2004 to 2011. Youkilis choked up as he spoke about Wakefield.

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“He was a great competitor when he took that mound, great teammate, and great friend and I had the luxury to play with him on the field, in the booth, and just glad I had the opportunity over the years to be alongside him,” Youkilis said. “Just an amazing husband, father and community leader. He really enjoyed people, being around people and today we lost one of the good ones.”

On the radio, WEEI cut into its pregame show to begin the broadcast early with play-by-play announcer Joe Castiglione announcing the news. An emotional Lou Merloni, another former teammate of Wakefield’s from 1998 to 2003, took several minutes to speak as the broadcast began with Castiglione and Will Flemming offering their memories.

Flemming revealed that those close to Wakefield had learned of his brain cancer just two weeks ago and that he had surgery to remove a tumor shortly thereafter.

“It’s surprising, shocking, he was doing well after surgery,” Merloni said. “To get that news today, it was hard. He was obviously a friend, teammate — the ultimate teammate.”

Wakefield was a pillar of the Red Sox for nearly two decades, his statistics ranking high on the organization’s leaderboards. The knuckleballer holds the franchise’s all-time records for starts with 430 and innings pitched with 3,006. He ranked second in franchise history with 590 pitching appearances and 2,046 strikeouts, behind Bob Stanley (637 games) and Roger Clemens (2,590 strikeouts) respectively, and third in club history with 186 wins, trailing only Clemens and Cy Young (192 each). He is the only player in franchise history to appear in a game at the age of 44 or older. No one has made more starts (216) or pitched more innings (1,553) at Fenway in the history of the century-old ballpark than Wakefield. With his final victory on Sept. 13, 2011, Wakefield became the 89th pitcher in modern baseball history to reach 200 career wins.

His 17 seasons are the most in club history by a pitcher with only Carl Yastrzemski (23 seasons), Dwight Evans (19), and Ted Williams (19) playing at least as many seasons with Boston as Wakefield did.

But beyond his on-field longevity and accomplishments, Wakefield was lauded for his work in the community. An eight-time nominee of the Roberto Clemente Award, Wakefield won the prestigious award in 2010. The following year, the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America created an annual Tim Wakefield Community Service Award in his honor.

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With so many years in the game, Wakefield amassed hundreds of teammates and played for dozens of coaches and many offered perspective on the beloved player.

In Kansas City, where the Yankees were playing their season finale, manager Aaron Boone was visibly shaken in speaking about Wakefield, a pitcher against whom he had a storied history — the two are forever linked in the minds of many fans after Boone’s 2003 American League Championship Series home run off of Wakefield.

“My heart goes out to their family,” Boone said. “I know his wife is dealing with cancer herself. I know he’s got children, just kind of brokenhearted over that and just praying for their family. Thoughts to all the Red Sox organization, but around baseball where Tim was beloved, but obviously a sad day.”

In Colorado, where the Twins were preparing for their final tune-up before the postseason, manager Rocco Baldelli offered a unique perspective. The Rhode Island native grew up a Red Sox fan, watching Wakefield as a spectator in the late ’90s, before becoming his teammate on the Red Sox in 2009.

“He was an exceptional teammate,” Baldelli said. “He was a straight shooter, he’d keep people on the path and he was really good about that. I loved playing with him in 2009 … he was a great player, was such a unique baseball player. I grew up watching him and admiring him and everyone for a period of time wanted to be Tim Wakefield playing catch in your backyard on a major-league field. But as a guy, just a tremendous guy you could rely on in every way when you shared a room with him and everyone is going to miss him.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who like Wakefield was a key piece of the 2004 Red Sox team that brought Boston its first championship in 86 years, reflected on what Wakefield had meant to him.

“I heard right before the game,” Roberts said. “He was a friend of mine, a teammate and I’m just really saddened. He cared. … I know he’s resting peacefully now. I pray for his wife, his kids and there are a lot of people that loved him. It’s just another reminder that the time we do have is not guaranteed and we all have to be grateful.”

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In addition to serving as the Red Sox’s first Jimmy Fund captain — along with teammate Clay Buchholz — and being an active participant in the annual Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, which has raised more than $60 million for cancer research, Wakefield was actively involved with “Pitching in for Kids,” a non-profit organization dedicated to providing grants to improve the lives of children across New England. His “Wakefield Warriors” program enabled patients from the Franciscan Hospital for Children and the Jimmy Fund in Boston to visit with him and watch batting practice before Tuesday home games at Fenway Park.

“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Tim’s family, his friends and teammates across the game, and Red Sox fans everywhere,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We will continue to support our partners at Stand Up To Cancer in the memory of Tim and all those who are in the fight against this disease.”

(The Athletic‘s Dan Hayes, Brendan Kuty, Chris Kirschner, Fabian Ardaya and Zack Meisel contributed to this story.)

(Top photo: AP Photo / Mary Schwalm, File)

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