BOSTON -- Tim Wakefield's signature pitch is a knuckleball, the baseball fluttering up to home plate on an unpredictable path after it leaves the Boston Red Sox right-hander's grip.

Most of the time, even if it's not the greatest of knuckleballs, it's a difficult pitch for the batter to square up.

That was the case for Minnesota's Jason Bartlett in the second inning of the Twins' waterlogged 7-3 victory last night at Fenway Park.

With the count at 1-and-2, Bartlett fouled off four consecutive knuckleballs. He barely got a piece of each one.

There were runners at first and second and there was one out with the Twins holding a 1-0 lead at the time. Wakefield hadn't been able to put away Bartlett with a knuckler, so he and catcher Doug Mirabelli elected to go for the element of surprise -- the fastball.

Now, fastball is a relative term when it's applied to Wakefield. This one sailed to the plate at 74 mph. And Bartlett, the Twins' No. 9 hitter, turned on the pitch, lofting it into the Monster Seats for only his second home run of the season, in his 287th at-bat.

Suddenly, it was 4-0, Minnesota. And, basically, that was the end of the night for the Red Sox.

"He had fouled off some pitches, so I wanted to change his eye level," said Wakefield in explaining his pitch selection. "It was a fastball in off the plate. He was able to keep it fair and hit it out. You have to tip your cap to them sometimes."

That one pitch, or the result of it, pretty much summed up the season for Tim Wakefield.

Frustrating. Exasperating. Disappointing.

Take your pick, and they all apply to Wakefield, the senior member in terms of age (he turned 40 last month) and years of service (12).

Early in the year, Wakefield was a victim of non-support from his offense. As the season wore on, he suffered a displaced fracture of a rib, and after trying to pitch through the pain with predictably mixed results, he spent roughly two months on the disabled list.

Clearly, though, Wakefield did not attend the Manny Ramirez School of Late-Season Shutdowns.

By the time Wakefield was ready to pitch again, the Red Sox had effectively, if not officially, been eliminated from both playoff avenues, the division crown and the wild-card berth.

But Wakefield always has been all about the team.

There were the days when he was shuttled from the rotation to the bullpen and back again. Did he chafe at times? Yes, but he has been the consummate professional, grabbing his cleats and running down to the bullpen when the team was in a bind, including the magical postseason of 2004, when his team-first volunteer relief efforts cost him starts but helped the Sox end their 86-year World Series drought.

So he has returned in the baseball equivalent of garbage time, with Boston's tragic number in the American League East down to one and to four in the wild-card standings with 11 games remaining.

Wakefield hasn't been particularly good since rejoining the rotation. In two starts, Wakefield is 0-2 with a 9.72 earned-run average, and he has been tagged for 18 hits in 8 2/3 innings.

Ironically, he said the knuckler was dancing last night.

"It's probably the best night I've had stuff-wise, but I didn't make pitches when I needed to," said Wakefield, who surrendered six earned runs in only 3 1/3 innings.

On a positive note, Wakefield is healthy again.

And what of next year?

The team holds an option on his contract for 2007, at $4 million. He is affordable in this day and age, and the Red Sox certainly have an opening for him.

Naturally, he'll be a year older, and one of his rotation partners will be another senior citizen, Curt Schilling, who will turn 40 in November.

There have been many innings of wear and tear on Wakefield's body, not to mention his arm. It takes a lot more effort to throw the knuckler than people realize, he has said many times in the past, but his physical problem this year was a bone issue. Bones heal. He has not had the more serious type of pitcher ailments, such as shoulder or elbow troubles, so there are no specific red flags tied into another year on the mound for him.

Who's going to catch him next year, though? That's another dilemma that arises with Wakefield.

Josh Bard wasn't able to survive, so the Sox brought back Mirabelli, but his sub-.200 average isn't likely to be carried next year no matter how adept he is at capturing Wakefield's knuckleballs.

Regardless of who gets behind the plate for him, though, Wakefield wants to come back next year, hoping he can erase the disappointment of 2006 and help the Red Sox return to the playoffs in 2007.

skrasner@projo.com / (401) 277-7340