|
June 19, 2013
Who is Shyster?
Monthly Archives
May, 2012
November, 2009 October, 2009 September, 2009 August, 2009 July, 2009 June, 2009 May, 2009 April, 2009 March, 2009 February, 2009 January, 2009 December, 2008 November, 2008
Or you can search by:
Most Recent Comments
Sam Zell’s Nightmare Continues (11)
William S. Stevens: 1948-2008 (22) Teixeira’s Options (18) Cole Hamels Meets Talk Radio (23) Appropos of nothing (4) Shyster's Daily Circuit
Rob Neyer
AaronGleeman.com Joe Posnanski Blog Baseball Analysts Baseball Musings Cot's Baseball Contracts It IS About the Money Keith Law Cardboard Gods Baseball Think Factory MLB Trade Rumors Retrosheet Vegas Watch Way Back and Gone Bats -- NYT Baseball Blog The Biz of Baseball The Daily Fungo U.S.S. Mariner Braves Journal Scott Simkus The Common Man Jorge Says No! Baseball Over Here Fack Youk Wezen-Ball Chop-n-Change |
Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.Friday, December 19, 2008FlutterI wasn't a big fan of Lance Niekro: First Baseman, but this is something I can get behind:Twenty years have passed since a Niekro threw a knuckleball in a major-league game. Lance Niekro, the longtime Giants infield prospect, now hopes to become the next to keep the family craft alive. Longtime readers are well aware of my knuckleball fetish, so a knuckling Niekro playing for my favorite team is about as good as it gets. Except for the fact that this will not end well. One of these knuckleball conversion projects come along every other year or so, and it never works. Remember Mark Lemke? There have been several others. The thing is, knuckleballers are not gimmick pitchers or mere tricksters. They're real pitchers who have to master mechanics and technique and a pitcher's mental approach to the game just like a guy with a plus fastball and a sharp slider. Heck, it's probably even harder for a knuckleballer given the dearth of coaches and mentors out there. Sure, Niekro may have uncle Phil hanging around, but given his name and pedigree, if Lance had any promise as a pitcher to begin with, someone would have forced him in that direction 10 or 15 years ago. It never happened. Heck, Niekro himself admits in the article that he "has to develop some secondary pitches." Good luck with that. If turning failed first basemen into viable major league pitchers was simply a matter of an offseason's worth of training, Rico Brogna and Travis Lee would still have jobs. It's not that easy, however, and no matter how good it would be to see the son of Joe Niekro tossing the flutterball in the bigs, the likelihood of that actually happening is something close to zero. (link via Neate Sager and Pete Toms, both of whom sent me the article within about five minutes of each other. You gotta watch those wily Canadians. They hunt in packs and always walk in single file to hide their numbers). Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:31am Comments
MooseinOhio said...
Is the fetish with the knuckleball connected in any way to the fantasy that maybe you didn’t peak athletically one league prior to Babe Ruth? Posted 12/19 at 09:59 AM
Craig Calcaterra said...
Not directly, in that I never thought I could or should try to throw one or anything, but there is certainly something appealing to me about any dynamic in which wily deception bests power and skill. Maybe that’s some sort of sublimated fantasy fulfillment based on my lack of athletic prowess, but I felt the same way even back when I was bigger than the other kids in little league and Jr. High School football and thus something of a moderate athletic success. Probably goes back to watching Bugs Bunny fan the Gashouse Gorillas with his slow ball. Posted 12/19 at 10:05 AM
Ron said...
Hey, the German coach is giving tryouts in Indianapolis. Dust off the knuckler and see if you can bring the “flutter”. Rememember, just like Charlie Hough, knuckleball pitchers age well. Posted 12/19 at 10:24 AM
MooseinOhio said...
I do agree with the whole deception angle as it is great to watch Jamie Moyer frustrate hitter with what is a borderline softball pitch. It certainly is a testament to the skill he has to be able to move a ball the way he does and locate it is the small window that he has hit. Is there a any chance Bill Lee could resurrect his career? Posted 12/19 at 10:39 AM
Page 1 of 1
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Next Post: Today at THT>> <<Previous Post: Merry Christmas from MLB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hey, Tim Wakefield was a converted first baseman, so they don’t all fail.