Knuckleball

[maddog42]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/08/13/211667018/the-knuckleball-can-devastate-so-why-dont-all-pitchers-throw-it


Don't know much about this pitch, or baseball for that matter. I just watched the documentary Knuckleball and loved it. With a knuckler winning the Cy Young a few years ago, is this pitch making a comeback? No, comeback is the wrong word. It was never popular.

[Tor Ekman]

Read "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton, to this day one of the 10 greatest must read sports books and an excellent primer on the elusive pursuit of attempting to master how to throw the knuckler. It wii never be a mainstream pitch for obvious reasons. Back in the days before TJ Surgery and rotator cuff rehab, it was for many, like Bouton, a last grasp at getting back to the big leagues. That's the backstory with RA Dickey who's blew out his arm and devoted himself to throwing a faster speed of knuckle ball and went on to win the CY Award.

[Marshall Bennett]

The problem with most knuckleball pitchers isn't throwing the knuckleball, but their lack of having a good 2nd or 3td pitch to go with it. Also their inability to hold runners on base. Often on an extremely windy day, particularly throwing into a head-wind, the knuckleball is extremely hard to control. The knuckleball isn't nearly as effective at higher altitudes because of the thinner air. When a pitcher has his pitch working well and conditions are ideal, he can be nearly unhittable. This seems to be the exception though generally. Knuckleball pitchers in the majors are a rarity in my opinion for these reasons.
Too many factors have to play out to be successful.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Chick Fil A
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[Robert Fischer]

A knuckleball pitcher is the kind of thing managers do not want on their team until they see that it's effective, and even then they'll be hesitant.

It's unorthodox.

It's a pitch that a lot of pitchers have in their repertoire but not in the game repertoire. As Tor Ekman mentioned, that tends to be the case unless they can't cut it with the orthodox 90+ (preferably 95+) fastball anymore.