FALMOUTH — It was a backyard party at one of the homes abutting the left side of the 12th fairway at Falmouth Country Club. When Kevin Millar and Tim Wakefield were seen walking toward the 12th green, it became a 2004 Boston Red Sox appreciation gala.

“Way to go, Wakefield!”

“Cowboy up, man! Cowboy up! That’s the real one-five, right there!” spectators shouted at Millar, referring to his uniform number and a team slogan that Millar popularized during his time with the Red Sox.

Remembering the 2004 season, in which the Red Sox snapped 86 years of World Series futility, remains fun for fans. The same goes for the guys who played on that team.

“It never gets old for us. We’re coming up on our 20th anniversary next year. It’s nice to reminisce with the guys I played with on that ’04 team. We’re still good friends,” Wakefield said.

Millar, Wakefield and Derek Lowe, another player on that historic Boston team, were in town to take part in Drive Fore Kids, a celebrity golf tournament put on the raise money for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. The tournament runs through Saturday. With late afternoon rain in the forecast, Saturday’s tee times were moved up an hour to 9 a.m.

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A master of the knuckleball, Wakefield pitched 17 of his 19 big league seasons with the Red Sox, with 186 of his 200 wins coming in Boston. Wakefield said he has vacationed in Maine with his family, but the Drive Fore Kids event is his first time playing golf in the state.

“I never got up here when I played, but I really loved it when I first came up here. It’s a cool place,” Wakefield said. “I’m fortunate enough to be invited to play in a lot of stuff like this. I absolutely love it. Drive Fore Kids is a great charity for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. For us to be invited to come here and support this event, it’s a blessing.”

Using the Stableford scoring system, which awards points for how players do on each hole, Millar scored 11 points Friday. Wakefield scored 5 points.

Millar, who spent three of his 12 big league seasons with the Red Sox, is practically a local. When Millar was a player in the Florida Marlins minor league system, he played two seasons with the Portland Sea Dogs. In 1996, Millar hit .318 with 18 home runs and 86 RBI. It wasn’t enough to earn a promotion to Triple-A. Back with the Sea Dogs in ’97, Millar went on a tear, hitting .343 with 32 home runs and 131 RBI. He holds the Sea Dogs single-season and career records in all three categories.

“It’s a bummer when you get that news. Obviously you want to go to Triple-A, and it didn’t work out. It’s funny how all the cards, they’re always in play,” Millar said. “You don’t realize sometimes at that moment, maybe it was the only way to get to the bigs, to go back and have that great year in ’97 and put myself on the map as an undrafted player. You look back, that was worth it.”

Millar threw out the first pitch at Thursday night’s Sea Dogs game, and guessed that was his first time at Hadlock Field since the last time he put on a Sea Dogs uniform. He has fond memories of his time in Portland.

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“I used to take Josh Booty over to DiMillo’s, and he was a $1.6 million signing bonus guy, so I’d make him pay for the lobsters and steaks. We weren’t making much money, so DiMillo’s was a pretty big treat,” Millar said.

Both Millar and Wakefield often paused their rounds to sign autographs for fans. Seven-year old Weston Laidlaw of Falmouth got Millar’s signature on a baseball as Millar approached the sixth tee. Wakefield signed the same ball for Weston as he left the sixth green. Weston had no memories of the two playing baseball, but his father, Lucas Laidlaw, certainly does.

“That (2004) team was incredible,” Laidlaw said.

Partnered with the pair of former Red Sox were Kerry Robillard of Cumberland and Alex Markakis of Old Orchard Beach. Markakis is a cousin of Nick Markakis, who played 15 years in the majors with the Orioles and Braves. Himself a former college ballplayer at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, Markakis found he and Millar have friends in common.

“These guys are regular guys. They make everyone feel very comfortable. Of course, a great event,” Markakis said.

Robillard said as they walked the course, he talked to Wakefield and Millar about things like baseball and their families.

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“It was really incredible, actually. I didn’t know what to expect. The first few holes, I was kind of feeling it out. You could chat about anything with them. I really enjoyed it,” Robillard said. “We just shot the (bull) like guys do.”

Both Wakefield and Millar will work 20 games this season as color commentators on NESN’s Red Sox broadcasts. Millar also co-hosts “Intentional Talk” on the MLB Network. It’s a way to stay connected to the game, Wakefield said.

“It’s all I know. Baseball gets in your blood,” Millar said.

Golf tournaments like Drive Fore Kids get in Millar’s blood, too. He didn’t pick up the game until his baseball playing days ended in 2010.

“It’s like our Masters. It’s competition, it’s good golfers, and you play these different courses. It’s a lot of fun just trying to pick this game up,” Millar said.


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