Tim Wakefield, Milt Schmidt Among First-Round Upsets for Boston's Biggest Sports Legend

Let's face it: If your name was Brady, Auerbach, Orr, Williams, Bird, Yastrzemski, Bourque or Russell, chances are you'd have a pretty easy path to Round 2 of Boston's Biggest Sports Legend tournament. There were plenty of tight races, however, and the field of 32 is now set.

The contest, which will determine whom Boston sports fans believe is the biggest legend in the city's history, included a number of intriguing first-round matchups, but only a select few underdogs were able to come out victorious.

Curt Schilling, who's certainly lost a good number of Red Sox fans in the past couple of years with his outspokenness, garnered enough support to oust former Celtics great Robert Parish. It turns out that a pair of bloody socks and World Series trophies are still fresh in fans' minds, as Schilling received 54 percent of votes.

Tim Wakefield's become a Red Sox icon over the past 16 years, but he took out a national icon in the first round. Though Winthrop, Mass., native Mike Eruzione scored the game-winner against the Russians in Lake Placid, he couldn't hang with Wakefield, who received a convincing 61 percent of the votes.

It's not all about the new guys, though, as Milt Schmidt proved with his 11-6 upset over Andre Tippett. One of the most important Bruins of all time, Schmidt received 55 percent of votes, despite the fact that his career ended nearly three decades before Tippett's began.

Cy Young also helped prove that it helps to have an award named after you, as he edged Celtics legend Bob Cousy by roughly 3 percent.

Another surprise was Terry Francona's win over Johnny Bucyk. Francona has won two titles as manager of the Red Sox, but Bucyk is the Bruins' all-time leading scorer. The fans spoke, however, and the 13th-seeded Francona received 50.58 percent of the votes.

There were a number of matchups that literally came down to the final minutes of voting.

Manny Ramirez edged Roger Clemens, as the former Red Sox slugger took in 50.6 percent of votes. Though Ramirez left Boston unceremoniously in the summer of 2008, it seems the city is just barely more inclined to forgive him over the disgraced power pitcher.

Another former member of the Red Sox who had a less-than-glamorous end to his career in Boston, Nomar Garciaparra, just edged former B's netminder Gerry Cheevers. Nomar won by a slim margin, receiving 50.5 percent of fans' votes. The same can be said for the Celtics' Paul Pierce, who beat out John Hannah by just 1 percent.

The complete results from Round 1 are below:

1. Tom Brady vs. 16. Luis Tiant
Winner: Tom Brady (83.6 percent)

8. Nomar Garciaparra vs. 9 Gerry Cheevers
Winner: Nomar Garciaparra (50.5 percent)

5. Phil Esposito vs. 12. Bruce Armstrong
Winner: Phil Espoito (91.7 percent)

4. Pedro Martinez vs. 13. Sam Jones
Winner: Pedro Martinez (80.9 percent)

6. Andre Tippett vs. 11. Milt Schmidt
Winner: Milt Schmidt (54.9 percent)

3. Cam Neely vs. 14. Bill Lee
Winner: Cam Neely (79.8 percent)

4. Paul Pierce vs. 10. John Hannah
Winner: Paul Pierce (50.5 percent)

2. Larry Bird vs. 15. Joan Benoit
Winner: Larry Bird (90.7 percent)

1. Bill Russell vs. 16. Drew Bledsoe
Winner: Bill Russell (86.5 percent)

8. Manny Ramirez vs. 9. Roger Clemens
Winner: Manny Ramirez (50.6 percent)

5. Adam Vinatieri vs. 12. Marvin Hagler
Winner: Adam Vinatieri (63.6 percent)