“It comes flying in there dipping and hopping like crazy and you just can’t hit it.” Ernie Banks
From AP.
A 53-year-old knuckleballer named Jon Secrist isn’t giving up on his goal of pitching in pro baseball, and the St. Paul Saints are giving him another chance.
Secrist was invited Friday by the Saints to their spring training camp after a tryout in front of manager George Tsamis. Secrist will pitch for St. Paul in an exhibition game on Tuesday night.
I love stories like that. Makes me think I still have a shot. I don’t have any delusion that a 53-year-old knuckleballer is going to make it to the bigs but, I’ll be rooting for him just the same.
I wonder why there aren’t more knuckleballers. Currently there are only a couple, that I know of, Tim Wakefield in Boston and R.A. Dickey in Seattle. I grew up in an era when there were a lot of good knuckleballers. Not novelties, good pitchers.
Knuckle ball pitchers are everyman. They don’t have to be young or, in particularly good shape. They go out and do their job, some days are good, some days are bad.
The knuckle ball is a anomaly. The idea is to throw the ball with no rotation. No spin and the knuckleball dances around and baffles great hitters. Knuckleballers don’t throw hard so, they often have lengthy careers.
Some people say that Ed Cicotte (1905-1920) was the first to throw the knuckleball. Although, getting people to agree on when something started in baseball is impossible. People don’t even agree on when baseball started. It’s safe to say that the knuckler has been around for a long time.
In 1944 pitching was sparse due to the war. That year, the Washington Senators starting rotation were all knuckleballers, Dutch Leonard, John Niggeling, Roger Wolff and Mickey Haefner. They had another one in the bullpen, Bill Lefebvre. Rick Farrell, catcher for the ‘44 Senators said…
“It will be a high adventure,” Ferrell said at the prospect of catching four knuckleballers in the Washington Senators’ rotation. “Yes, there is an element of danger in catching a knuckleball pitcher, but that’s part of the job in Washington this season.
A high adventure because catching a knuckleball is almost as difficult as hitting one.
Bob Uecker, on the best way to catch it: “Wait’ll it stops rolling, then go pick it up.”
The first knuckleballer that I remember was Hoyt Wilhelm.
I think that every knuckleballer, at some point, is photographed showing “the grip”. Wilhelm looks like a guy who could work at a grocery store or sell insurance. He was in the latter stage of his career when I started following baseball. Hoyt pitched from 1952-1972 with a record of 143 wins and 122 losses. His numbers are a little different than the others in this post because he was a reliever so, his wins and losses aren’t as high. Wilhelm pitched in an incredible 1,070 games and had 227 saves.
Next we have Charlie Hough.
Charlie looked like just another regular guy. He pitched for 14 seasons and his record was 216 wins and 216 losses. Fourteen years of breaking even, that’s knuckleballer all over. These are guys that eat up innings and don’t make the team worse off.
The Niekro brothers Joe…
and Phil…
Both of them pitched well into the gray hair years. Between them they won 539 major league baseball games throwing the knuckler. Joe pitched for 22 years with a record of 221-204. Phil put in 20 seasons and went 318-274 with 121 of those wins coming after the age of 40; beautiful.
Bobby Murcer, on Phil Niekro:
“Trying to hit Phil Niekro is like trying to eat jello with chopsticks. Sometimes you get a piece but most of the time you get hungry.”
Hands down, my favorite of all the knuckleballers is this next guy; Wilbur Wood.
He looks like a Wilbur, doesn’t he? Wood pitched 17 years with a record of 164-156.
From the Baseball Almanac.
“Wilbur Wood made an unlikely hero. The, portly, cigar-smoking lefthander was once described by author Roger Angell as having the physique of “an accountant or pastry cook on a holiday.” He would quip about his 39-inch waistline, “I need all that weight in the middle to keep my balance.” Notorious for his dislike of workouts, Wood was fortunate to excel in throwing a pitch that took little physical effort, but was mentally tough to master.” - Baseball Historian Russell Wolinsky
We could use more like all of these guys. They were colorful characters that came across as regular guys but, the regular guy thing is a little deceptive. If you grew up spending hours playing catch in the backyard, chances are that you have attempted to throw the knuckler. Truth is, very few ever master the knuckleball.
Jim Bouton: “You need the fingers of a safecracker and the mind of a Zen Bhuddist to throw it.”
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Tags: Baseball, Charlie Hough, ed cicotte, ernie banks, Hoyt Wilhelm, Joe, knuckle ball pitchers, Phil Niekro, rick farrell, st paul saints, tim wakefield, Wilbur Wood
Pat Darnell and Friends wrote,
Note: reduction in spin makes for a wobble slow rotation, that fights against air, and gravity. The crafty pitcher has reduced also the inertia in the ball as it mimics a bumble bee in flight.
Batters who hit 90+ mph pitches are put on display, as they have to use all the wrist and forearm and butt to lay into this non-pitch of pitches.
{Get ready here comes the miserable anecdote:}
I was a third baseman. They let me pitch batting practice because from third one must throw straight, chest high directly at the first-baseman’s mit, with no pause. [It's the hypotenuse, you know, of the diamond.]
I perfected a knuc=kle ball that I used in warmup at third base. I threw it sometimes at the huge lefty on first to his chagrin, and cursing.
As I pitched watermelons in batting practice, with a few other fruits, I would throw a change up knuckle… well anyway it earned me a chance to pitch in the last game of my little league career. Coach Thurman called me over from third, told me to pitch it out from the fourth.
One on, one out, and the guy known as Billy “Boxcar,” 10 homeruns at bat that year, I pitched my usual wide and low and letters; so with two balls one strike I threw my tosser knuckle at old Billy.
He stepped up and put his lard butt down — just like in slow pitch softball — not only did he hit #11 out of the park, it went over the box cars beyond the fence right center, and clanged into a caboose. And got his nickname that day.
Coach Thurman came out concerned for my mental state, and relieved me with Steve Wauson, the side arm chunker. That was the last knuckler I ever threw.
Pat Darnell and Friends’s last blog post..Blogger Adopt a Celebrity Program
Link | April 28th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Pribek wrote,
PD, I’m impressed that you had knuckleball aspirations. Good story, too bad you didn’t stick with it.
Link | April 28th, 2008 at 10:59 am
J wrote,
I love the historical sports figures and loved learning about the knuckleball. Thanks for the post, J.P. BTW,I ended my baseball career in 4th grade when a large wooden Louisville Slugger homed in on my forehead during a school playground match. When the teachers revived me, I discovered I had developed an incurable bat phobia. Never did get even with Tommy for slinging that bat, either. Dirty yob!
J’s last blog post..Preparing for performance.
Link | April 28th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Pribek wrote,
That’s tragic J! But, I would suspect most music professors have had similar experiences, especially those marching band guys.
I kid, I kid! Just a joke man.
And, I couldn’t resist, you kind of threw me a softball there.
Link | April 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pm