I have a particular fondness for pitchers who build their career on odd pitches. Bring a good eephus or gyro-ball to the plate and I'll be hanging on every pitch. Go against the grain with lots of change-ups and pristine location on off speed offerings (a la Jamie Moyer) and I'll be your biggest fan. Feed hitters a steady diet of sinkers without getting burned and I'm fascinated. The knuckleball is one of those novelties that draws me in. One day, when I was working on a baseball video game as my day job, Angels broadcaster Steve Physioc was in the booth recording a couple dozen generic introductions for knuckleball pitchers. It was near the end of a long day of recording and Physioc commented that "these sure are a lot of lines just for Time Wakefield." There are never many knuckleball pitchers in the majors, but those who master that off speed wonder pitch with all of its unpredictable movement in and around the strike zone can pitch their way well into the twilight years of a big league career.
You can count on just two hairy knuckles the number of pitchers in the majors who feature this dancing pitch and this year one of them is pitching for my team. I can't help but wish RA Dickey great success this year. He could be an important part of a good run for the 2008 M's. Mike Bauman has a nice profile piece about him. I hope Kenji Johjima is up for the unusual challenge of catching this crazy pitch.
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