gif of Dickey Knuckleball

[satyr9]

The fact he has two speeds of knuckleball is insane. Having a nice fastball/change combo can be enough if you're really good, but having the same speed differential on a pitch that can turn into any pitch after it leaves your hands is just silly. How does a hitter prepare for one speed when it might work like a 2-seam, a cutter, a slider, a curve, a slurve, a sinker, a screw, or a 4-seamer (anything else)? Now, how does that batter prepare if it could come at 75MPH or 60MPH?

Someone should get interviews with the old knucklers still kicking around and see what they think of two speeds of knuckleball.

[MikeM]

The fact he has two speeds of knuckleball is insane. Having a nice fastball/change combo can be enough if you're really good, but having the same speed differential on a pitch that can turn into any pitch after it leaves your hands is just silly. How does a hitter prepare for one speed when it might work like a 2-seam, a cutter, a slider, a curve, a slurve, a sinker, a screw, or a 4-seamer (anything else)? Now, how does that batter prepare if it could come at 75MPH or 60MPH?

Someone should get interviews with the old knucklers still kicking around and see what they think of two speeds of knuckleball.

I think they talked about it briefly in the Knuckleball movie. If I recall, the old guys were pretty much like "ya.. that **** is straight cheating."

[satyr9]

I think they talked about it briefly in the Knuckleball movie. If I recall, the old guys were pretty much like "ya.. that **** is straight cheating."

I didn't know there was such a thing. Off to find now.

[Schad]

I used to catch in College and we had a pitcher who threw a knuckle and knuckle-curve. It's not that it moves at all or dances, the fact of the matter is that it doesn't really move at all. It sort of is a bit at the mercy of whatever wind patter there is, having almost no vertical or or sideways inertia (if thrown right).

As a catcher, it's odd to have come at you, because the majority of pitches have a downward or sideways trajectory, so your tendency is to actually see a release point and judge the catch point to be lower than that. When a knuckler comes along, it kind of stays on plane or could just slightly rise a little it the conditions are right.

What we do as catchers is to wear a bigger mitt and have a really open stance, almost like you're getting ready to pick someone off, throw someone out, so that you're in the best position to move in any direction.

Yeah, I caught in high school and had a friend who threw a tolerably decent knuckleball when messing around (which is to say that half of the time it was a knuckleball, and the other half it was the saddest curve imagineable), and it wasn't even really even that it moved terribly much that made it difficult, but the fact that it doesn't conform to what your brain tells you should be happening. Big league hitters are great because somewhere, deep in their subconscious, they can judge by the speed, spin and first break of the ball where it's likely to end up. Same with catching it, of course; your glove position is determined by where the ball is at a good 30 feet away and a mental prediction of what that will mean. Knucklers use that all that acquired knowledge against you.

A knuckleball thus is a pitch as imagined by Kafka, a reality-shattering piece of existential nonsense that has all the appearance of normality until it morphs into something twisted and unbeing and hits your catcher in the facemask.

[YogiStewart]

as an aside, here's Dickey's goodbye to New York:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... z2FvHUUJ00

[torontoaces04]

as an aside, here's Dickey's goodbye to New York:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseb ... z2FvHUUJ00

Great read. It really seems like he is as loved by Mets fans as Doc was by us. We already know he's a great pitcher, but he seems like an even better person.

I think we got a gem.

[Gibby]

I used to catch in College and we had a pitcher who threw a knuckle and knuckle-curve. It's not that it moves at all or dances, the fact of the matter is that it doesn't really move at all. It sort of is a bit at the mercy of whatever wind patter there is, having almost no vertical or or sideways inertia (if thrown right).

As a catcher, it's odd to have come at you, because the majority of pitches have a downward or sideways trajectory, so your tendency is to actually see a release point and judge the catch point to be lower than that. When a knuckler comes along, it kind of stays on plane or could just slightly rise a little it the conditions are right.

What we do as catchers is to wear a bigger mitt and have a really open stance, almost like you're getting ready to pick someone off, throw someone out, so that you're in the best position to move in any direction.

Yeah, I caught in high school and had a friend who threw a tolerably decent knuckleball when messing around (which is to say that half of the time it was a knuckleball, and the other half it was the saddest curve imagineable), and it wasn't even really even that it moved terribly much that made it difficult, but the fact that it doesn't conform to what your brain tells you should be happening. Big league hitters are great because somewhere, deep in their subconscious, they can judge by the speed, spin and first break of the ball where it's likely to end up. Same with catching it, of course; your glove position is determined by where the ball is at a good 30 feet away and a mental prediction of what that will mean. Knucklers use that all that acquired knowledge against you.

A knuckleball thus is a pitch as imagined by Kafka, a reality-shattering piece of existential nonsense that has all the appearance of normality until it morphs into something twisted and unbeing and hits your catcher in the facemask.

That's a great description of the knuckleball. It's going to be fun watching his starts this year.

[SharoneWright]

A knuckleball thus is a pitch as imagined by Kafka, a reality-shattering piece of existential nonsense that has all the appearance of normality until it morphs into something twisted and unbeing and hits your catcher in the facemask.

Kafka never stood a chance:

[-MetA4-]

You won't find anything because it defies science.

It doesn't defy science. As mentioned, it's lack of spin makes its movement more volatile to the forces around it. The seams on the baseball allow for air pockets to cause friction which alters its path.

You can actually see a very similar effect in soccer. Some of the best free-kick specialists can strike the ball resulting in little to no spin, causing it to "knuckle" similar to a baseball. Watch this free kick by Juninho at ~:38:

http://youtu.be/oqGhpbslywY?t=38s

[satyr9]

A knuckleball thus is a pitch as imagined by Kafka, a reality-shattering piece of existential nonsense that has all the appearance of normality until it morphs into something twisted and unbeing and hits your catcher in the facemask.

Kafka never stood a chance:

The Metamorphosis Part II

[YogiStewart]

A knuckleball thus is a pitch as imagined by Kafka, a reality-shattering piece of existential nonsense that has all the appearance of normality until it morphs into something twisted and unbeing and hits your catcher in the facemask.

Kafka never stood a chance:

The Metamorphosis Part II

"Who's on First?"
"My glove is turning into a frikking cockroach and you're asking me riddles??? Why won't you help me?!"

[BigLeagueChew]

I was also a catcher growing up, I caught for a few pitchers that were drafted but never really caught the knuckleball. Our coaches probably wouldn't let anyone throw it since they always wanted that young stud that threw hard or the 14-15 year old lefty that is 6'4 . Since that's basically what scouts look for these days.

I could throw a good knuckleball on flat ground, but as soon as I tried in on the mound it would look like your basic changeup, or less than than average.