Tim Wakefield


      Due to an admittedly deficient social life I sat in front of the boob tube for about an hour on Memorial Day afternoon watching the Red Sox play the Yankees. The big story was Roger Clemens going after his 300th win against his old team, the Red Sox. His pitching opponent was Tim Wakefield who is the best of the very small number of Knuckleball pitchers in the major leagues.
       There is nothing in the sports world quite like a Knuckleball pitcher. The Knuckleballer doesn't so much pitch as much as he tosses. His motion is like the throwing motion of your average female who doesn't understand why men like sports so much. While the top pitchers generally throw upwards of 90 mph the knuckleball pitcher averages in the 50 mph range. The knuckleball is thrown with very little spin so the path of the ball is subject to the whims of the elements. The pitcher himself has no idea where the ball is going which makes it incredibly difficult to hit. Former big league catcher Bob Uecker uttered the classic line (see quotes about the knuckleball) on how to catch a knuckleball:

       I wait until the ball stops rolling and then I pick it up.


      When Wakefield was pitching everything was in slow motion. He didn't just get people out he makes everybody look foolish, the hitters, the catcher , and even the fielders who are always back on their heels because when a knuckleball is hit it generally comes off the bat with no spin and often takes bad bounces and engenders fly balls taking a knuckleball path.
       While the big winning fastball pitchers are usually young, tall, athletic adonis' with beautiful wives and girlfriends the knuckleballer usually looks like your average Joe hanging out in the neighborhood tavern drinking away his sexual frustrations. (Wakefield is the exception to this observation) The final insult to those who cherish a well ordered universe where one thing follows another and everything fits into a grand scheme is that those who have the most success against knuckleballers are not the Barry Bonds type with the sweet swing and superhuman hand eye coordination who generally walk away shaking their heads. Rather it is the scrappy overachiever who gets by on intelligence, guile, guts, and a short compact just make contact swing who has the most success hitting the knuckleball.


Links

Aerodynamics of the Knuckleball
Physics of the Knuckleball
Scientific American: physics of the knuckleball
Knuckleball 101
Sports: Knuckleball