Les Hall doesn't know why he called Tim Wakefield some 21 years ago, a phone call that would change both his life and Wakefield's.

At the time, Wakefield was a Brevard Community College student who had quit baseball and wasn't planning on playing anymore. Fresh out of Eau Gallie High School, Wakefield, by his own admission, was hard-headed, impatient and, like many 18-year olds, immature. He clashed with BCC coach Ernie Rosseau. He quit.

Not exactly a solid endorsement for the coach at the only local four-year college to pick up the phone and offer Wakefield a scholarship. So why'd he do it?

"Good question," Hall said, scratching his head. "I don't know why. All I know is that it worked out pretty good for both of us."

And how.

Saturday afternoon at the Florida Tech baseball field, Hall, Wakefield and Andy Seminick had their jersey numbers retired. It was only fitting that all three men be honored together. After all, they are the three most celebrated names in Panther baseball history.

Seminick, the former Philadelphia Phillies "Whiz Kid," was Florida Tech's first baseball coach and athletic director. Later, Hall coached the team for 25 years. And, of course, Wakefield is the best player the program ever produced.

In a speech during which his voice cracked with emotion when he talked about his deceased grandfather, Lester Wakefield -- "He never missed a game here when I played. I miss him a lot" -- Wakefield talked at length about the influence of Hall and Seminick.

"I owe not only my career to them," Wakefield said, "but I also learned from them how to be a good person."

We know both so well.

Wakefield has gone on to a stellar pro baseball career, with 144 career wins as a knuckleball pitcher, most for the Boston Red Sox, with whom he won a World Series title two seasons ago.

As far as being a good person, that far outweighs Wakefield's athletic talents. His charity work locally and in the Boston area are legendary. In fact, if not for Wakefield and his generous donation to his alma mater to build a new field, baseball probably would no longer exist at Florida Tech.

Wakefield's take is that he can't do enough.

"This is where I got a second chance," he said.

He made the most of it.

Wakefield acknowledges that when he played for Florida Tech he still tended to be a hot head, but the steady influence of Hall and Seminick shaped him.

"I remember one time I slammed my bat down after I struck out, and Andy came over and told me I can't do that. I can't take that at-bat back onto the field with me, that I still had to play defense. It made sense," he said.

Then there was the time Wakefield got into some off-the-field trouble. College kid stuff. He recalled that Hall didn't have to say a word. Just the way he looked at him was enough.

"I didn't want to disappoint him," Wakefield said. "And when I saw in his eyes that I had disappointed him, that was enough. But I think most of all, what Les and Andy did was teach by example, by the way they carried themselves. They taught me how to be a man."

The rest of baseball might not know it, but Wakefield wasn't a pitcher at Florida Tech.

He was a power-hitting first baseman, with a school-record 40 career home runs. Hall, however, does remember one time when he called on Wakefield to pitch.

The Panthers had just played a string of games against northern schools, and their conference season was about to start. Hall didn't want to burn one of the pitchers in a somewhat meaningless game against one last northern school. So he summoned Wakefield.

"Chip Greek was warming him up in the bullpen and I remember Tim threw him a knuckleball, and Chip said, 'Let's not use that. It's not very good.' "

Imagine that.

Of course, the day would come when Wakefield would have to use that knuckleball. When his minor-league career as a first baseman in the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization was foundering, he again got a second chance. That's when Wakefield reinvented himself as a knuckleball pitcher and the rest, as they say, is history. Or perhaps we should say history in the making.

Saturday, a little bit of that history was honored at the stadium now named after Les Hall and Andy Seminick. Two great coaches had their numbers retired along with their prize pupil, Tim Wakefield.

It was quite a day, all thanks to a day 21 years ago, when Les Hall gave Tim Wakefield a phone call.