A rangers broadcaster once told this story “A teammate of mine once told me I’m gonna tell you everything I k ow about hitting a knuckleball. Then he just walked away”
Phil Niekro was able to pitch in MLB till the age of 49 years old by relying almost entirely on his amazing knuckle ball thereby putting less strain on his throwing arm. It was fascinating to watch batters swinging and missing some of his high looping knuckle balls thrown at just over 60 miles an hour. He finished with a win/loss record of 318/274, earned run average of 3.35 and 3,342 strike outs.
Id watch Niekro pitch & was amazed to sometimes see his catcher falling over, sometimes laying down to catch his pitches, but they crossed the plate & were called for strikes.
Notice how you never see a batter dispute being called out on a knuckler, just walks off and admits "ya, i can't hit that thing" knows he can't challenge the ump because the ump could honestly say "seriously, you couldn't hit it, i can't call it either, that thing was all over the place!!" LOL 😂
Rare is putting it lightly. Notice how there's really only a few big league pitchers in this video and Dicky is the only one still pitching. He's literally the only knuckleballer left.
Hey just wanted to tell you that Plz read everything btw Jehovah and his son Jesus Christ love you so much that God would send his one and only son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead 3 days later Get a relationship with God and Jesus and confess for your sins and Live for Christ and not the world and allow God and Jesus into your hearts. God and Jesus are trying to save you from going to hell. HELL IS NOT A JOKE. Jehovah and Jesus are all of our Gods and Lords and Saviors✝️✝️✝️✝️SPREAD THE WORD✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️Pray to Jehovah and his son Jesus Christ get saved today ✝️✝️✝️✝️JOHN 3:16✝️✝️✝️
Being a catcher when I was younger....a knuckler just floats and wiggles in the air....all you can do is guess and try to keep your body in front of it
I've been a ball player my whole life. Summer of 7th grade, my arm wouldn't stop hurting. Instead of telling my coach (he was very amateur) I taught myself to throw side-arm with a Knuckleball instead of a curve. Long story short, at the end of the year tourney, NOBODY could hit it. Even when they knew it was coming. Years later, my opponents from other cities still remember me as the 'side-armed knuckleballer." Even though I had developed into a very-good over the top thrower after that summer and only threw that knuckler for a few weeks. Moral of the story, the knuckler is an absolute KILLER if you can deliver the pitch where you want it.
I pitched in the Khoury League and High School in a suburb of St. Louis from age 11 to 15 (1962). At 6' 3", I had a monster fast ball and curve. During my 13th year, I grew 6" (very painful). Due to poor coaching, I was required to pitch "every practice" and "every game" from start to finish. As a result, by age 15, my arm was jello and my right elbow was toast. Any chance I had for AAA ball or the big league was taken from me. But then, there was Vietnam to look forward to.
I remember watching a documentary on knuckle ball pitchers. That they've always been relatively scares in MLB but there is usually almost always at least on active knuckle ball pitcher. Its was mainly focused on Tim Wakefield and RA Dicky. I thought it was interesting how one of them mentioned that if you were a 90+ fastball pitcher for most of your career but your arm is starting to go a little, if you were able to add a good knuckle ball to your pitches you could extend your career another 5 to 10 years. Then he said something like, I've gotta hang around til another young knuckleball pitcher comes along.
I was a pitcher for 16 years and I threw a knuckle ball. It does all kindsa shit u can't predict. Planes up, drops, wiggles and even shakes. Fun pitch to throw to batters that are expecting heat. They're so far ahead of it, they could swing twice
@@BetheasByteRELOADED I threw a good one but my older brother threw the best one. I had to throw it with three fingers. My brother used two and his nickname was " smokey " he could throw a very hard, scary knuckleball
@@russmartin9549 I believe you. I've seen some knuckleballs thrown that I myself has described as Dirty... Nasty... Filthy...and Disgusting. Trust me. Those are accurate adjectives. If I were to call either you or your brother any of those because of that knuckleball, take it as a compliment!
scariest moment of my time playing third base was when a hot line drive came right me with almost no spin and a knuckle motion in the air. I will never forget seeing that ball break away from me one moment and then break back at my face the next. I whipped my glove in front of my face to catch it, but only caught air as the ball broke again and zipped past my right ear. I could only breathe a sigh of relief that I didn't take that ball to the face.
Had a great friend when I was about grade 8,absolutely incredible natural athlete (from both sides of his family) his pa was a fastball pitcher and taught him how to whip pitch a nasty knuckle ball. Once grade 11 came ,no one would play catch. His knuckle ball was insane. But he was raised to play fastball not hardball.
Man, I miss my pitching days! I’m going to have to get someone to catch for me and throw some knuckle balls and record it, it’s been 10+ years since I have thrown one lol.
I pitched in the Khoury League and High School in a suburb of St. Louis from age 11 to 15 (1962) before my parents relocated to Chicago. My coach was a Knuckle-Baller but he would never teach me the pitch. I batted against him only one time (his requirement) so I could see the pitch for myself. When he released it ... I became mesmerized. As the ball traveled toward me, the seams never rotated. Also, the ball danced side to side during its travel. My catcher (Greg Magelleski) couldn't catch the ball, only knock it down. Why wouldn't he teach me the pitch ? Because throwing a knuck-ball requires very little energy, it is extremely effective against batters, and it's very hard to control. All this equates to its allure to a pitcher that routinely dictates, once a knuckle-ball pitcher, always a knuckle-ball pitcher. He was right not to teach me. I had a monster fast ball and curve ball. During my short tenure, I pitched 3 "no-hitters" and a long list of other accomplishments. It all went only for memories though because my talent was not "big league" worthy as I matured.
i always wondered if there were ever going to be a pitcher with a 98 MPH fastball, slider and a mean knuckeball. It always seems knucke ballers always throw 85 to 87 tops on the fastball and usually no slider. If a batter is waiting for a knuckler and gets 98 MPH smoke it seems it would be almost impossible to hit.
It won't happen. Knuckleball pitchers somewhat limit their fastball velocity with their strides. In order to throw 98 or so, they would have to give away the fact they are throwing a hard fastball.
I have never laughed harder in my life. Watching the absolute NASTIEST ball movements on the Knuckleballs, especially in slow motion, is so disgusting is hilarious
The knuckler is fine and dandy, but I played High School ball with a kid name of Tubby McGuire. Ole Tub threw a "bounce" pitch. He had it bounce around 8 foot in front of the plate and then go right thru the strike zone. Now, if ye took it, it'd be a ball. But it wuz truly amazin' how many dunces would swing at it. Ole Tub would throw it 3-4 times per inning. It really messed up the hitters minds. He throwed hard, probably over 90 in High School. Ole Tub went 9-2 our Senior year.
It’s so hilariously hard to hit. You never really see it in the MLB anymore but after taking 90mph fastballs for years and a pitcher throws some goofy shit like this you’re missing-
I remember in high school my best friend was the pitcher and I was the catcher. He practiced a knuckleball all the time and basically gave up on it. One day in a game loaded count he called me to the mound saying he wanted to try it. It ended up low and inside but that thing broke so hard all I could do was laugh when I missed it
The knuckleball was my favorite pitch to use when i played. I can throw mine submarine, sidearm and overhand. Very fun to watch your friends try to hit it.
SMASH THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON ✅ 👊🏼
FOR A PART 2!!!!
_why did u just now say that? what happened to 3 years ago :)_
shut the fuck up
@@bkbj8282 Lol
Calm down
When asked what was the best way to catch a knuckleball, Bob Uecker said "Just wait until it stops rolling and pick it up."
A rangers broadcaster once told this story “A teammate of mine once told me I’m gonna tell you everything I k ow about hitting a knuckleball. Then he just walked away”
Legend says he's still walking
See you read Wikipedia too
dude are you the same person who commented this on the other video?
@@nicolaszuluaga7839 If I was, it’d be far out, man.
Phil Niekro was able to pitch in MLB till the age of 49 years old by relying almost entirely on his amazing knuckle ball thereby putting less strain on his throwing arm. It was fascinating to watch batters swinging and missing some of his high looping knuckle balls thrown at just over 60 miles an hour. He finished with a win/loss record of 318/274, earned run average of 3.35 and 3,342 strike outs.
His brother Joe probably hated playing catcher for Phil
Id watch Niekro pitch & was amazed to sometimes see his catcher falling over, sometimes laying down to catch his pitches, but they crossed the plate & were called for strikes.
Not an athlete sadly also lost players now hit those weak ass knuckles jk all love AMEN Gen Z wins
I think nobody has pitched more innings since 1920 in MLB than him.
Knuckleball is all wrist and grip. No hard motion at all hardly.
Notice how you never see a batter dispute being called out on a knuckler, just walks off and admits "ya, i can't hit that thing" knows he can't challenge the ump because the ump could honestly say "seriously, you couldn't hit it, i can't call it either, that thing was all over the place!!" LOL 😂
The only disputes are players desperately trying to convince the ump that they got a piece of it 😂
What a cool pitch to have in your repertoire. It's still rare in the majors
Whyinem yes.
Oh yeah I agree. I played for 10 years never got knuckles. And these are nasty
It really makes pitchers careers last longer too. Less strain on the arm.
Rare is putting it lightly. Notice how there's really only a few big league pitchers in this video and Dicky is the only one still pitching. He's literally the only knuckleballer left.
No cap
Catcher: fastball?
Pitcher: no
Catcher: curveball?
Pitcher: no
Catcher: we cant do this everytime
Pitcher: yes
Announcer: and here's the windup
Hotel: Trivago
Fart=smell
Hey just wanted to tell you that Plz read everything btw Jehovah and his son Jesus Christ love you so much that God would send his one and only son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead 3 days later Get a relationship with God and Jesus and confess for your sins and Live for Christ and not the world and allow God and Jesus into your hearts. God and Jesus are trying to save you from going to hell.
HELL IS NOT A JOKE. Jehovah and Jesus are all of our Gods and Lords and Saviors✝️✝️✝️✝️SPREAD THE WORD✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️Pray to Jehovah and his son Jesus Christ get saved today ✝️✝️✝️✝️JOHN 3:16✝️✝️✝️
@@n9tailz GOBB = BLESS ☑️
Barra = Cuda
I love watching how catchers struggle more than any other pitch catching knuckleballs
Being a catcher when I was younger....a knuckler just floats and wiggles in the air....all you can do is guess and try to keep your body in front of it
Because you never know where the ball will land. Only pitch you have 0 idea of where it will break when it does break.
1:08 what a shot. absolutely no spin
He looked like he was using sticky stuff
(Before I get flamed, this is a joke)
Actually might be one of the nastiest pitches I've ever seen
Insane.
There is a slight amount of spin, but it at the last moment it looks to reverse itself. Absolutely insane.
You know the knuckleball is wicked when even the damn catcher can't grab it!
1:10 even the catcher missed the ball
Noah Lipsky t
Knuckleball actually loses quite a bit of it's effect as the velocity increases. It's most devastating at its ridiculously slow speeds
Worst part is, it wouldn’t count as a strike since he didn’t swing and it wasn’t caught :/
I didn’t notice that the first couple times they showed it
It's hard asf to catch a knuckleball, some pitchers that throw nasty knuckleballs need special catchers who can track the movement of the pitch.
"Best way to catch a knuckleballer is to wait for it to stop rolling and pick it up." -Bob Uecker
I don't get it
@@icepick859 Wild pitches and passed balls are more likely to happen on knuckleballs because the pitch movement is so unpredictable.
I've been a ball player my whole life. Summer of 7th grade, my arm wouldn't stop hurting. Instead of telling my coach (he was very amateur) I taught myself to throw side-arm with a Knuckleball instead of a curve. Long story short, at the end of the year tourney, NOBODY could hit it. Even when they knew it was coming. Years later, my opponents from other cities still remember me as the 'side-armed knuckleballer." Even though I had developed into a very-good over the top thrower after that summer and only threw that knuckler for a few weeks. Moral of the story, the knuckler is an absolute KILLER if you can deliver the pitch where you want it.
I pitched in the Khoury League and High School in a suburb of St. Louis from age 11 to 15 (1962). At 6' 3", I had a monster fast ball and curve. During my 13th year, I grew 6" (very painful). Due to poor coaching, I was required to pitch "every practice" and "every game" from start to finish. As a result, by age 15, my arm was jello and my right elbow was toast. Any chance I had for AAA ball or the big league was taken from me. But then, there was Vietnam to look forward to.
@richardgreen7811 Respect sir.
when these knuckle ballers are locked in, all you can do is sit back and hope for a walk i guess haha
TY COBB, the GREATEST PLAYER of ALL TIME, said the best way to hit the knuckleball was to get as far back in the batter's box as possible.
Samuel Moulds Greatest player of all time lmfaoooo
Samuel Moulds lmaooo. Greatest ever was Barry bonds
Read More you’re both wrong. Willie Mays was the greatest of all time.
James Crowder you’re all wrong best ever was Buttercup Dickerson
2:20 I see you with that transition
Skipper "you're gonna be catching our best knuckleball pitcher today, how do ya feel"
Catch "It's cool I think id like to go back down to Triple A"
I remember watching a documentary on knuckle ball pitchers. That they've always been relatively scares in MLB but there is usually almost always at least on active knuckle ball pitcher. Its was mainly focused on Tim Wakefield and RA Dicky. I thought it was interesting how one of them mentioned that if you were a 90+ fastball pitcher for most of your career but your arm is starting to go a little, if you were able to add a good knuckle ball to your pitches you could extend your career another 5 to 10 years. Then he said something like, I've gotta hang around til another young knuckleball pitcher comes along.
Who uses a knuckleball now? I’d love to know.
@@dannytran1587 Mickey Jannis, but he is currently playing in an independent league.
R.A. Dickey might be the best knuckleball pitcher, but at 3:10. Steven Wright throw the best knuckleball ever
He changes his arm motion and speeds.
Dickey was a mediocre pitcher until he became the pitcher with the most controlled knuckle ball
Ever heard of Tim Wakefield?
Wright is better than Wakefiend.
Evidentially none of you ever heard of Hoyt Wilhelm or Wilbur Wood.
Ok please stop putting the GIVAWAY TIME thing at the beginning of the video. Just put it at the end
Just skip it you dumbass bitch
Donald Shrek
joseberrios #1 idk why I said that I was prolly stressed at then time
@@michgto1049 youre the one acting like a bitch tho
@@kenmendoza6932 come on man leave him alone he's stressed he didn't mean to comment something rude
Those knucklers made even more difficult to hit off Niekro, given how blurry the world was back then
Forget hitting it. How do you even catch the damned thing!?
I was a pitcher for 16 years and I threw a knuckle ball. It does all kindsa shit u can't predict. Planes up, drops, wiggles and even shakes. Fun pitch to throw to batters that are expecting heat. They're so far ahead of it, they could swing twice
@@russmartin9549 Yeah! Go ahead! Swing twice. You'll hit more air than you will a KNUCKLEBALL! LOL!
@@BetheasByteRELOADED I threw a good one but my older brother threw the best one. I had to throw it with three fingers. My brother used two and his nickname was " smokey " he could throw a very hard, scary knuckleball
@@russmartin9549 I believe you. I've seen some knuckleballs thrown that I myself has described as Dirty... Nasty... Filthy...and Disgusting. Trust me. Those are accurate adjectives. If I were to call either you or your brother any of those because of that knuckleball, take it as a compliment!
@@BetheasByteRELOADED your welcome. Complement accepted. I loved being that way on the mound. It Instills fear to the batter
0:51 How is that even real...
wiam smit fr I had to replay that
Imagine being able to throw pitches like that consistently
Back in the day, the catchers would wear a bigger mitt than usual when they had a knuckleballer on the mound.Neikro was just nasty with that pitch.
Cause he was a cheat
@Trigger Warning just cause he was never caught doesn't mean it didn't happen. Everybody knows he was cheating
1:13 is the nastiest knuck EVER LMAO!
1:06 ball please make up your mind where you're trying to go lmfaoo great pitch
It's a thing of beauty when the 53mph strikezone knuckleball suckers the catcher, too.
Rest in peace Wakefield
Best thing about this video 90% of the highlights were my sox havent seen a tim wakefield clip in a couple years made my morning
2:20
nice transition
Gummy haha 😂 nobody noticed
1:10 you know you threw a good pitch when it even fools the catcher
scariest moment of my time playing third base was when a hot line drive came right me with almost no spin and a knuckle motion in the air. I will never forget seeing that ball break away from me one moment and then break back at my face the next. I whipped my glove in front of my face to catch it, but only caught air as the ball broke again and zipped past my right ear. I could only breathe a sigh of relief that I didn't take that ball to the face.
Had a great friend when I was about grade 8,absolutely incredible natural athlete (from both sides of his family) his pa was a fastball pitcher and taught him how to whip pitch a nasty knuckle ball. Once grade 11 came ,no one would play catch. His knuckle ball was insane. But he was raised to play fastball not hardball.
Nobody gonna talk about how 90% of the clips are of the Red Sox?
Subscribed! Best baseball vids ever
Great video quality👏
3:11 is filthy
Lol
Daaim Shabazz down right dirty
Subscribed from Puerto Rico.
Wakefield was a beast in 2k back in the day. The knuckleballs used to make the A.I shit a brick 😂
1:15
Dickie always had great sportsmanship.
Man steven wright and RA Dickey throw some of the most evil pitches I have ever seen
There is just something cool about a knuckleball pitcher that is on their game. Seeing major league hitters almost powerless to hit it.
2:18 smooth transition
“The knuckleball swung on”-cuts-“and missed”
I used to play catch with a former AAA knuckleball pitcher. I was lucky if I caught like 50% of his KB throws.
Man, I miss my pitching days! I’m going to have to get someone to catch for me and throw some knuckle balls and record it, it’s been 10+ years since I have thrown one lol.
Subscribed! Love your videos!
Hey I love your videos
I pitched in the Khoury League and High School in a suburb of St. Louis from age 11 to 15 (1962) before my parents relocated to Chicago. My coach was a Knuckle-Baller but he would never teach me the pitch. I batted against him only one time (his requirement) so I could see the pitch for myself. When he released it ... I became mesmerized. As the ball traveled toward me, the seams never rotated. Also, the ball danced side to side during its travel. My catcher (Greg Magelleski) couldn't catch the ball, only knock it down. Why wouldn't he teach me the pitch ? Because throwing a knuck-ball requires very little energy, it is extremely effective against batters, and it's very hard to control. All this equates to its allure to a pitcher that routinely dictates, once a knuckle-ball pitcher, always a knuckle-ball pitcher. He was right not to teach me. I had a monster fast ball and curve ball. During my short tenure, I pitched 3 "no-hitters" and a long list of other accomplishments. It all went only for memories though because my talent was not "big league" worthy as I matured.
These pitches are so cruel even the catcher is still trying to figure it out. Genius.
i always wondered if there were ever going to be a pitcher with a 98 MPH fastball, slider and a mean knuckeball. It always seems knucke ballers always throw 85 to 87 tops on the fastball and usually no slider. If a batter is waiting for a knuckler and gets 98 MPH smoke it seems it would be almost impossible to hit.
It won't happen. Knuckleball pitchers somewhat limit their fastball velocity with their strides. In order to throw 98 or so, they would have to give away the fact they are throwing a hard fastball.
That would be absolutely unhittable.
I have never laughed harder in my life. Watching the absolute NASTIEST ball movements on the Knuckleballs, especially in slow motion, is so disgusting is hilarious
Great Highlights.
Subscribed
great video
I had a decent knuckle ball in HS. Our catchers hated it as much as the opposing hitters. :D
I had my balls knuckled in HS.
scrapplepig LMFAO
That's amazing.
I love that video
Subscribed good vid, keep up the good work
I subscribed and I love the baseball clips
Subscribed! Nice compilation👍
i really love your vids i subscribed
Varitek was a stud catching Wakefield. Best knuckleball catcher I ever saw.
One Outs has gotten me into watching baseball!
At 1:42 he was done with that pitch
SUBSCRIBED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I subscribed really good video
subscribed on your first vid
I subscribed to the channel
Awesome.
The knuckler is fine and dandy, but I played High School ball with a kid name of Tubby McGuire. Ole Tub threw a "bounce" pitch. He had it bounce around 8 foot in front of the plate and then go right thru the strike zone. Now, if ye took it, it'd be a ball. But it wuz truly amazin' how many dunces would swing at it. Ole Tub would throw it 3-4 times per inning. It really messed up the hitters minds. He throwed hard, probably over 90 in High School. Ole Tub went 9-2 our Senior year.
It’s so hilariously hard to hit. You never really see it in the MLB anymore but after taking 90mph fastballs for years and a pitcher throws some goofy shit like this you’re missing-
Subscribed!
Great compilation. It was a long time ago but it's too bad there was no Hoyt Wilhelm.
subscribed
The catcher for the Braves usually got the day off after catching for Phil Niekro
I'm subscribed
I subscribed.
Amazing thing in sports
subscribed!
I remember in high school my best friend was the pitcher and I was the catcher. He practiced a knuckleball all the time and basically gave up on it. One day in a game loaded count he called me to the mound saying he wanted to try it. It ended up low and inside but that thing broke so hard all I could do was laugh when I missed it
love that video
Subscibed!
Does anyone else have memories of using Tim Wakefield when playing video games as the red socks back in the day?
The knuckleball was my favorite pitch to use when i played. I can throw mine submarine, sidearm and overhand. Very fun to watch your friends try to hit it.
I have to agree it's fun watching your friends TRY to hit it. But when it's YOU, not so much. That Knuckleball can make the best hitters look silly!
They just look so pretty, like something you can juice, until it's nothing you can come close to.
I love this vid
"Subscribed"
0:51 Amazing...
Subbed
Crazy how the catchers are having such a hard time just catching the ball
Subbed bro 😎
Hitters worst nightmare it just drops at the end lol. Also a challenge for your catchers
subscibed
3:10 holy WHAT the hell is that pitch?
nice vid
I subscribed
Subscribed and great video baseball is awesome
Subscribed
subscribed
subscribed!
Subbed
I subscribed