2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

Just to piggyback on what buck presented so well, there's another element to Dickey's unique -- uh, knuckleballity.

He throws it hard, but he also has kept the option of throwing it very slow. I heard on the Mets' broadcast the other night that he has on occasion thrown what can only be called an "eephus" knuckler that lands below 60 mph.

So, he's essentially throwing two (or more) different pitches with the knuckler. Although, looking at the chart, it appears he's gone away from the super-slow pitch this year, bottoming out somewhere in the mid-60s.

 

My point was that this hasn't been done in the National League since the second half of the 1992 season. And even then, Wakefield's success in that league was fleeting. For whatever reason, knuckleballers have been more common in the AL since then.

 

Well, not exactly. There have only been a few knuckleballers since Wakefield came up in 1992.

http://www.oddball-mall.com/knuckleball/list.htm

Wakefield, of course, was in the AL from 1995-2011, as was Steve Sparks (1995-2004). Dickey has spent twice as much time in the AL (144 G vs. 73 and counting in NL), too. Dennis Springer did too (81 G in AL vs. 43 in NL)

But Tom Candiotti left the Indians and spent most of the '90s in the NL (Dodgers, 1992-97), while Jared Fernandez (who?) was in the NL from 2001-06. Kirt Ojala, who gave up Barry Bonds' 400th homer and was the last lefty knuckleballer, was strictly NL from 1996-98.

Charlie Hough spent the entire '70s in the NL, the entire '80s in the AL, and then split two years with the White Sox ('91-'92) and expansion Marlins ('93-'94).

The only other knuckleballer is Charlie Haeger, who also split his time between the two leagues: 19 G in NL, 15 G in AL.

On a related note, the only game I've ever seen at Fenway Park was Wakefield vs. Springer in 1996. That was pretty awesome.

 

I love that list, buck. I could spend hours with that list.

Rich Sauveur's claim to fame: Most major league clubs pitched for without a victory (six teams, 0-1 career record). That is not easy to do.

He was the ace of the first Harrisburg Senators team when baseball returned to City Island in 1987. I spent a great deal of 1987 slipping over to the ballpark on my lunch break when he pitched. There was an open area under the stands behind the plate, and I'd grab a box or something and sit on it to peek through an opening in the netting and watch Sauveur's pitches dance around the night mayflies.

 

Again, I am talking about success. Domination. High-impact knuckleball pitchers. I should have been more clear (doing five things at once). Off the top of my head, I think Sparks had one pretty good season for a doomed Tigers team. But that was a flash in the sky, if that.

 

Looking at that chart, the other interesting thing to me is how Dickey went from being a five-pitch pitcher to more or less a three-pitch pitcher with the knuckler being used the vast majority of the time.

Instead of trying to get outs on five mediocre pitches, he now has a dominant pitch with a couple of others to throw guys off.

It reminds me a bit of Ball Four, because Bouton was always trying to convince Schultz and Maglie that he only needed the knuckler and they didn't believe him.

 

Who else fits that description, then, except Wakefield?

There are no other "high-impact" knuckleballers in the last 20 years, unless you count Candiotti with the Dodgers (and I don't.)

Yes, I agree the NL hasn't seen a "high-impact" knuckleballer in 20 years. But that doesn't mean they're "more common" in the AL, when it's only one guy in the entire pool.

 

Just a simple question for you guys. Who do you think is the best player in the Majors right now? Would you be against putting Votto on the top?

Please, don't say Jetes.

 

Agreed. There just haven't been enough knuckleballers for a generalization like that to make sense.

 

Harper, on his all-star candidacy: I'm not doing what Trout's doing.

Don't worry, kid. No one is.

 

When healthy, it's still probably Matt Kemp.

 

Trout is the best player. I figured you East Coasters would not vote for him.