Diamondbacks Win, Knuckleball & baseball blab.

[Zeno]

Behind the knuckleball of Steve Sparks no less. Yanks could only eke out 1 run. And the D-backs finally hit well. This game also had some great outfield catches by both teams. Any win is worth celebrating for a D-back fan.


Will there be more Knuckleball pitchers in the future for the big leagues?

One more point. Most teams have the names of the players on the back of their jerseys. The Yankees do not. Why is this?

And I am surprised that Ego Boy George does not have 'Steinbrenner's Boys' plastered on the front and back of every Yankee jersey.

And then Alex Rodriquez said 'The Yankee uniform does special things to people' (quote from the Arizona Republic).

This works both ways A-rod. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] Take a hike. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

The Yanks and Dodgers will now lock horns in a series that should be a great one to watch.

-Zeno

[andyfox]

I'm going to Saturday's game with my father and sons. My dad has been a Dodger fan since 1926 [sic] and I've been a Yankee fan since 1960. The Yankees will pitch a kid just called up from triple-A, so I don't expect much, but one never knows. Jeff Weaver will pitch against his ex-teammates. One never knows with him either.

The Yankees always seem to have trouble with knuckleballers. Wakefield usually gives them fits and Hoyt Wilhelm pitched a no-hitter against them in 1959. Congrats to the D-backs on an infrequent win.

I'm just now watching the Dodgers/Orioles game on TV. Every time I see Miguel Tejada, he has no idea how to play the game. He fields unintelligently, he runs the bases badly, and he swings at everything. He's got great talents, too bad. I know he was the MVP and all that, but he's a lesser player than his rep. People looking at the stats 40 years from now will never know.

The 4th highest paid player on the Dodgers is Todd Hundley, $7,000,000/year. Hard to believe, I know. Then again, Shaq will make $30,000,000 in 2006, but he has the ability to opt out after 2005.

Really hard to believe.

[Ed Miller]

Will there be more Knuckleball pitchers in the future for the big leagues?

Frankly, I'm surprised there aren't more now. Historically the good ones have been fairly successful. Moreover, you do not need nearly the athletic aptitude to toss knucklers that you need to be a normal pitcher. So the pool of potential major league knuckleball pitchers is much larger than the pool of potential conventional pitchers.

In what other sport can a washed up 38 year old be paid half a million dollars a year to lose most of his games? You'd think there would be "Learn to be a knuckleball pitcher" schools in every state and commonwealth.

[JoeU]

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One more point. Most teams have the names of the players on the back of their jerseys. The Yankees do not. Why is this?

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This is a matter of tradition. The Yankees have NEVER put their names on the back of their jerseys, and they never will. This would practically be a crime against humanity if they did. The Sox don't on their home jerseys (not sure on the road jerseys), and I believe the Cubs just recently added names to their jerseys. Those traditions date back to the beginning of their franchises.

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Will there be more Knuckleball pitchers in the future for the big leagues?

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I don't believe there will be for 2 reasons:

1. The knuckleball is a very, very difficult pitch to control. Usually, knuckleballers are either feast or famine in regards to their ability to dominate a game or control that pitch. The unpredictability of the style means no one is willing to teach it or use it.

2. Its not flashy. Think of the great pitchers of the last 25 years (Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Kurt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, etc). They all feature dominant "fastballs". Even the closers of today (Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner, Eric Gagne) all come in and close a game with dominant fastballs (especially Wagner).

For those 2 reasons, you will probably never see a predominantly knuckleball pitcher again.

Joe

[Sundevils21]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
One more point. Most teams have the names of the players on the back of their jerseys. The Yankees do not. Why is this?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a matter of tradition. The Yankees have NEVER put their names on the back of their jerseys, and they never will. This would practically be a crime against humanity if they did. The Sox don't on their home jerseys (not sure on the road jerseys), and I believe the Cubs just recently added names to their jerseys. Those traditions date back to the beginning of their franchises.

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It's tradition as well as a "team" thing. Players don't need to be recognized as much as the team in general. Sometimes in sports you hear, "play for the name on the front of your jersey, not the name on the back". Some college teams remain nameless on the back(football), USCtrojans & PennState are just a few. I heard Joe Paterno say that he would leave the University if they changed the uniforms(I guess they were considering it), now that's pride and tradition(don't think he really would have left). Team is #1.

[JoeU]

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It's tradition as well as a "team" thing. Players don't need to be recognized as much as the team in general. Sometimes in sports you hear, "play for the name on the front of your jersey, not the name on the back". Some college teams remain nameless on the back(football), USCtrojans & PennState are just a few. I heard Joe Paterno say that he would leave the University if they changed the uniforms(I guess they were considering it), now that's pride and tradition(don't think he really would have left). Team is #1.

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Extremely well said! I think today's athlete loses site of this.

There is an aura about playing for the Yankees, not an aura about playing with Derek Jeter.

Joe

[Zeno]

Thanks Sundevil and also Joe U.

Good explanation and excellent points, especially about the uniforms.

I like to watch pitching and the knuckleball pitchers are somethimes more interesting to watch than some of the other more 'traditional' hurlers. But most like the power and that's what most impresses the fans.

-Zeno

[Phat Mack]

Will there be more Knuckleball pitchers in the future for the big leagues?

I wonder if there is any connection between the occurance of knuckleballers and the aerodynamic (if I'm using the correct term) qualities of the new stadiums being built. It seems that a knuckleball would need weird wind currents, etc., in order to dance. Perhaps modern stadiums (stadia?) are being built to negate the influences of weather,

Having asked that question, didn't a Niekro pitch a no hitter in the AstroDome?