Baseball question...

[BCYL]

Why is the knuckleball so difficult to hit? From the looks of it (to me), it seems pretty slow and doesn't have a lot of movement... yet that's the only pitch Tim Wakefield uses and he's quite successful.... Can someone tell me why?

 

[new2AMD]

well it in fact has a ton of movement when thrown properly. There is no rotation (or quite little) on the pitch and very little velocity. Therefore a hitter needs to generate his own power to hit it and its not supposed to stay in the same position for long. That makes it hard to find the fat of the barrel. A lot of pop ups and groundouts occur.

 

[Garet Jax]

That and its movement is too unpredictable.

 

[BCYL]

Is the knuckleball really the only pitch Tim Wakefield uses? I don't think I recall seeing him throw another pitch...

 

[BigSmooth]

You can't see the movement on TV, but it's there. Moreover, the movement is random - since the ball is not spinning, there is no way to know exactly which way it will go (left, right, down).

It looks easy to hit on TV but if you ever see one coming at you in person, a good knuckleball is baffling. That's why hitters have a hard time with it even when they know it's coming, and catchers have to use a special glove and they still drop it all the time.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: BCYL
Is the knuckleball really the only pitch Tim Wakefield uses? I don't think I recall seeing him throw another pitch...

He also has a "fastball" and a curve, I believe.

 

[Lamont Burns]

he has a "fastball", that is only fast in comparison, about 80 MPH tops.

Also a curve yes.

Remember that a knuckleballer on a bad day is the WORST pitcher in baseball, therefore you do not see many.

Also, weather is a huge influence. In a warm air dome, that pitch can be hammered. On the other hand, a windy cold day is IDEAL for a knuckleballer.

Wakefield's knuckle will rotate at most about 1/2 a revolution, which is amazing.

And, these are thrown with fingernails dug into stitches, not knuckles...

 

[BCYL]

Originally posted by: LAMONTBURNS
Also, weather is a huge influence. In a warm air dome, that pitch can be hammered. On the other hand, a windy cold day is IDEAL for a knuckleballer.

Why is that?

 

[Legendary]

Originally posted by: BCYL

Originally posted by: LAMONTBURNS
Also, weather is a huge influence. In a warm air dome, that pitch can be hammered. On the other hand, a windy cold day is IDEAL for a knuckleballer.

Why is that?

The warm air will hold up the ball. A high knuckleball is a meatball for any MLB hitter. A cold windy day = insanely moving knuckleball. Without spin, the only motion comes from the wind, and if it's cold it drops like a stone.

 

[tarheelmm]

This may help

 

[nitsuj3580]

Originally posted by: Legendary

Originally posted by: BCYL

Originally posted by: LAMONTBURNS
Also, weather is a huge influence. In a warm air dome, that pitch can be hammered. On the other hand, a windy cold day is IDEAL for a knuckleballer.

Why is that?

The warm air will hold up the ball. A high knuckleball is a meatball for any MLB hitter. A cold windy day = insanely moving knuckleball. Without spin, the only motion comes from the wind, and if it's cold it drops like a stone.

wind isn't always beneficial. Ideal conditions are if the wind is blowing straight at the pitcher out towards center field. If there is fairly strong left to right wind going, the pitch can be very hard to control because as mentioned, even the pitcher has no idea where it is going to end up. It's an awesome pitch to fool around with though. A kid on my high school team could throw a sick knuckleball. The thing moves all over the place and you better be paying attention or you'll miss it completely.

 

[Ynog]

When a good knuckleball pitcher pitches, no one knows where the ball is going to end up.
The ball will literally jump around. And when its working well it will have a drop on it at the
end. If you ever went to a batting cage with two spinning tires, and seen what happens
when they spin at the same speed, you will know what I am talking about
Its not the only pitch wakefield uses but its one of his best. 75 mph fastball isn't really
a fastball. He has a curve too. However when the knuckleball has any spin on it, its a meatball
And looks like batting practice. You want to knuckleball to have no spin, and to be low,
A high knuckleball won't be staying in the park long.

 

[BCYL]

thanks for the insight guys! no wonder Wakefield can be so good in one inning and HORRIBLE in the next...