Whatever Happened to Knuckleball Pitchers?

                                                  There was a time when there were several pitchers in the majors who threw perhaps the most baffling pitch of all, the knuckleball. It is really not an accurate description of the pitch since most of the grips I have seen use the fingertips and not the actual knuckle. Knuckleballers over the years have had some success, and some have been no so successful. As of right now, only one major leaguer uses the knuckleball as his primary pitch, Matt Waldron of the Padres. 

                                                                 The Dodgers have not had a knuckleball pitcher since 2001. That pitcher was Dennis Springer. Springer was drafted by the Dodgers in the 21st round of the 1987 June draft. He was drafted out of Cal State Fresno. He pitched in the system and got as far as AAA Albuquerque in 92. After the season he was declared a free agent and signed with the Phillies in May of 1994. He pitched in 4 games for the Phillies in 95 and was granted free agency after the season.

                                                                He was signed by the Angels and spent 96-97 in Anaheim getting into 52 games, 43 as a starter. He was taken by the Rays in the 97-expansion draft. He got into 29 games, 17 as a starter. He was with the Marlins in 99, the Mets in 2000. He resigned with the Dodgers in 2001 in May. He would get into 4 games for LA at the end of the season. On October 7th, in San Francisco, Springer surrendered Barry Bonds record setting 73rd homer in the first inning of the Dodgers 2-1 loss to the Giants. The homer came off of a 43-MPH knuckler. He pitched in 1 game for LA in 02 and was released.

                                                                The creator of the knuckleball has never been firmly established. But several pitchers began using it in the early 20th century. Baseball statistician and historian, Rob Neyer, named four players in a 2004 book, The Neyer/James Book of Pitchers, who could have potentially taken credit. When Nap Rucker came up to Brooklyn, he mainly threw hard stuff in 1907. But he changed to the knuckler

                                                                  An article published in 1908 gave Lew Moren, a pitcher for the Pirates and Phillies, who debuted in 1903, the credit. Others give credit to Eddie Cicotte, who debuted for the Tigers in 1905 and earned the nickname “Knuckles” for his signature pitch. Then there was Ed Summers, who was shown holding what was called, a dry spitter, when he debuted for the Tigers in 1908. No matter who invented the pitch, it was a legitimate weapon in a pitcher’s arsenal early on. 

                                                                The main problem with the knuckleball was simply controlling it. You never knew where exactly the ball was going to go. But many early knuckleballers has success. Rucker, who pitched on some really bad Brooklyn teams, was 134-134 in his career with a really good 2.42 ERA. He had 43 wild pitches in his 10-year career. Cicotte, before he ruined his career by taking bribes with the 1919 Black Sox, was one of the premier pitchers in the AL. He finished with a 209-148 record and a 2.38 career ERA in 14 seasons. He was actually better at the end of his career. The Chicago eight were not banned until after the 1920 season. Cicotte won 21 in 1920.

                                                                 Lew Moren only pitched for seven years and had a losing record. Ed Summers pitched for just five major league seasons. In 1918 a young right-hander named Jessie Haines, debuted for the Reds and pitched 5 shutout innings. He was sent back to the minors and in 1920, his contract was purchased for 10,000 dollars from the Kansas City team in the American Association. For the next 18 years, he would pitch for the Cardinals, appearing in four World Series, one as a member of the 1934 Gas House Gang, and end up being elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1970. 

                                                                  Haines won 20 or more games three times and finished with a career mark of 210-158. He was a member of two Cardinal Championship teams, 1926 over the Yankees, and the 34 win over the Tigers. He was not a strikeout pitcher; he had just 981 in his career. He walked 871. He had pretty decent control of his knuckler sine he only had 55 wild pitches in 18 years. He was 3-1 in World Series play and had a homer and 3 RBIs in series play to his credit. He is one of four pitchers in the Hall who used the knuckleball as their primary pitch.

                                                                  The next great knuckleball pitcher came up to the White Sox in 1923. Ted Lyons. Lyons would win 260 games in the majors and he lost 230. He has the 4th highest ERA of any pitcher in the Hall, 3.67. He is also the only pitcher in the Hall with more walks than strikeouts. He won 20 or more three times. Lyon would lose 3 full seasons to military service during WWII. He was elected to the Hall in 1955. He retired after the 1946 season.

Hoyt Wilhelm

                                                                  In 1952, a 29-year-old right-handed pitcher debuted for the New York Giants. He would appear in 71 games for the Giants, winning 15 games and losing 3, with 11 saves. His ERA was 2.43, leading the National League. He finished 2nd in the ROY voting to the Dodgers Joe Black. Black had a lower ERA at 2.13, but not enough innings to qualify for the ERA title. The pitcher was Hoyt Wilhelm, and his name would become synonymous with the knuckleball. 21 years later, Wilhelm would end his career as a Dodger, pitching in 16 games. Hoyt would finish with a 143-122 record and 211 saves. He played for nine different teams over his 21-year career. He was elected to the Hall in 1985 by the BBWAA.

                                                                 In 1964, the only knuckleballer to record 300 wins debuted for the Milwaukee Braves. Phil Niekro would need three seasons before he cemented himself into the Braves starting rotation. In 1967, he won the NL’s ERA title with a 1.87 ERA. He led the league in wins two times and losses four. He never won a Cy Young award, and his highest finish came in his 1969 season when he was 23-13 and finished 2nd. He won 20 three times and lost 20 twice. He pitched for 24 years, 21 of those spent with the Braves. He was 318-274 over his career. He was elected to the Hall in 1997 by the BBWAA. His brother, Joe, debuted in 1967 with the Cubs. He would pitch for 22 years for 7 different teams winning 221-202. 539 wins between the two brothers. Joe is not in the Hall. in his only year on the ballot, he got just 1.3% of the vote. 

                                                                 Three other knuckleballers have won 200 or more games, two of them at one time played for the Dodgers. Freddie Fitzsimmons, 217-146, Charlie Hough, 216-215, and Tim Wakefield, 200-180. Wilbur Wood, one of just five left-handers to throw the pitch, won 164 games and lost 156. In 1960 Paul Richards designed a glove that was 45 inches to help catch Wilhelm’s knuckle ball. In 1963, MLB banned the glove and now catchers’ gloves can be no bigger than 38 inches. Bob Uecker once famously observed that the easiest way to catch a knuckleball was to wait until it stopped rolling and then pick it up. This might be why it is not widely practiced anymore, but I think it is because teams value velocity.