Wakefield was the first of the "Bonus Babies", and his bonus was "more than the aggregate amount that the entire starting lineup for many major league teams earned in a season." From the beginning, Wakefield felt that he was treated unfairly by sportswriters, many of whom he recalled made only $8,000 a year. "Most of the resentment came from the newspapers. Fifty-two thousand was a sockful of money in 1941 and the papers made a big deal of it. They were writing about me every day."