Tim Wakefield, Phil Niekro, Charlie Hough, Tom Candiotti, and R.A Dickey. Did you recognize what is a common ground of them? Yes, all of them are famous for throwing knuckleball throughout their careers. The knuckleball is still one of the toughest pitches for hitters to hit because it just randomly changes its direction. So, it is simply unpredictable. Most of the pitches that are thrown by pitchers have certain types of movements, but knuckleball doesn’t have one. If you never heard about the knuckleball before I prepared a video for you.
The video is about 230 strikeouts that Dickey had in his career high 2012 season (Cy Young Award winner for 2012 National League). You can easily notice that pitches in the video look like different types of pitches, but most of them are a knuckleball. The knuckleball is continuously and randomly changing its direction on the way to the hitter. Therefore, knuckleball often considered as an unhittable pitch for hitters.
Why does knuckleball move like the video? It is related to its spin. A normal type of pitch, for example, fastball rotates about 16 to 17 times on its way to the hitter from the pitcher. That fast rotation of fastball and seams on baseball created an air flow which is evenly spread over the entire ball. That helps baseball to travel steadily to the catcher’s mitt. However, knuckleball usually rotates about 1 to 1.5 times on its way to the hitter from the pitcher. Simply, it barely rotates. So, the airflow stays on one side of the baseball for a while before it started to move to the other side of the baseball. That slow rotation of baseball makes the baseball drift in the direction of the leading seam for the first time and then makes erratic moves.
The knuckleball is also the hardest pitch to master because of its grip and special traits. Moreover, if pitcher made a mistake with a knuckleball, that is going to be a disaster for the pitcher because that is exactly same with just a batting ball. So, to be a knuckleball pitcher in professional baseball leagues is a really hard thing to do and requires a massive amount of practice.
Images : switchpitching.blogspot.com
It is an interesting post for the people who is a big fan of baseball. However, I never think about how to throw the ball and the theory of the type of balls. In your blog, you explain about the knuckleball with the video. However, I think this blog post is kind of out of topic for the class. I think it will be better that if you write more study about the knuckleball.
I had never heard of the knuckleball before I read this blog. Clearly it is very effective if you can throw it properly. I’m curious about how people learn how to throw it. It’d be interesting to know if it throws differently based on how the pitcher’s hand moves or how his arm moves or something else. I think some research could be done to estimate where the ball will end up to help hitters have a better chance against it. This article, http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/June-2012/The-Wonderful-Physics-of-RA-Dickeys-Knuckleball/, talks about Dickeys famous “angry knuckleball” and how throwing at different speeds helps with variation and predictability and thats how he kept control of his knuckleballs.
I was never that big of a fan of baseball but this blog intrigued me. I think it is so interesting that a pitcher can throw a un hit-able pitch. If a pitcher can paster a knuckleball throw, why can’t a batter master a knuckleball pitch? I agree with Matthew and I believe you should of included a study in your blog. Maybe a study that shows exactly how hard it is to master a knuckleball or how unpredictable they are. This website https://www.pinterest.com/pin/51228514485158281/ has a really good diagram that shows the physics behind a knuckleball. Overall really interesting topic!
Nice post. There’s actually a movie that stars Wakefield and Dickey called, you guessed it, Knuckleball. It provides insight into the difficulties of being a knuckleball pitcher, which include the inconsistencies that one faces when throwing a knuckleball. I can’t imagine being a catcher for a knuckleballer, because you would have to be in your toes all time time. The wind has a tremendous impact on the pitch because of its lack of rotations, whereas a fastball can cut through the wind and get to its intended destination with speed and power. I love a good knuckleball, and this post made me excited for the winter meetings about to start. Go Phillies!
This was a cool blog. I played baseball my entire childhood up until high school, and used to be a pitcher for my team. I used to try to throw a knuckleball over and over again, but never got it. You are right when you say it is really hard to master, it takes a tremendous amount of practice, and even then its difficult. I think you should have included a study that was done on this pitch in your blog. What is the percentage of knuckleballs hit in the MLB per year? Is it really un-hittable? Overall Cool blog. I never knew how many times a ball spins in a fastball and any other pitch