I have seen the knuckle ball fool the best of hitters and umpires and make the most skilled catcher look like a buffoon. But as it was stated before, if a knuckleball pitcher isnt on, it can be batting practice time.........
As an aside, I had the opportunity to meet Tim Wakefield when he was with the Pirates.... couple of things I got from his talk....he was not signed as a pitcher, but developed the knuckleball as a way to stay in professional baseball....and admitted that his "fast ball" at best was "very low 80's".....Pleasant guy, good speaker and has fashioned a decent big league career out of throwing "90 % Knuckleballs and 10 % prayers...........
I also find it hard to believe that McCarver was ever a big league catcher based on his rules knowledge.....last night he stated an infield fly was not called on Damon's bunt because it was not high enough........