I love watching the catcher's reaction at the end. Priceless!
Can you say MOVEMENT?
I just wonder what it would be like to be a batter facing a ball coming at you like this!
p.s. Thanks to Hokieone for the fodder!
YGD
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Do you think other teams will try to find their own knuckleballers given the success Dickey had with it this year? I can't blame them for trying to duplicate it.
PS...My son and some of his college teammates went to a Mets game this summer as one of his teammates Dad is a coach for the opposing team. They sat behind home plate and watched Dickey pitch a shutout. My son said he was amazed that major league hitters can actually put the bat on the ball sometimes. In his words....it (Dickey's knuckleball) is ridiculous.
PS...My son and some of his college teammates went to a Mets game this summer as one of his teammates Dad is a coach for the opposing team. They sat behind home plate and watched Dickey pitch a shutout. My son said he was amazed that major league hitters can actually put the bat on the ball sometimes. In his words....it (Dickey's knuckleball) is ridiculous.
The problem with knuckleballers is they have to come as a matched set with a catcher. It doesn't matter if the catcher can't hit. Doug Mirabelli made a career of catching Wakefield. One year the Sox let Mirabelli go. By May they overpaid to reacquire a backup .200 hitting catcher (Mirabelli) before Varitek went out of his mind catching Wakefield.
In his book, RA says that it was mainly Orel Hershiser (Ranger pitching coach at the time) that finally recommended he switch to throwing the knuckleball or risk being cut from baseball altogether. But only because RA's velocity had dropped to around 87-88mph and was being hit all over the place. The advise and recommendation most likely saved his career.
Tim Wakefield is another who changed from a position player and decided to try pitching with the knuckleball. Most of the successful knuckleballer's over the years were up in years when they saw their most victories. So it's not out of the question I guess for some players who may want to resurrect their careers.
Tim Wakefield is another who changed from a position player and decided to try pitching with the knuckleball. Most of the successful knuckleballer's over the years were up in years when they saw their most victories. So it's not out of the question I guess for some players who may want to resurrect their careers.
quote:Originally posted by RJM:
before Varitek went out of his mind catching Wakefield.
