Both belong to an exclusive club, which has a membership of two: themselves.

That sentence is trying too hard.

So why aren't there more pitchers throwing the knuckleball? It seems that it greatly increases of having a long, productive career. In this day and age, that's worth quite a bit.

The list of knuckleballers in the major leagues is only two names long, containing the names of two men, both of whom make up exactly half of that number: two.

Five is right out!

So why aren't there more pitchers throwing the knuckleball?

For the same reason that there aren't many guys hitting 50 home runs every year. It is very hard to do.

So why aren't there more pitchers throwing the knuckleball? It seems that it greatly increases of having a long, productive career. In this day and age, that's worth quite a bit.

Saw an interesting interview with Dickey (perhaps it was Jim Caple on ESPN?) where he was asked this question, and Dickey's response was twofold:

1.) Because the knuckleball is an insanely hard pitch to throw with any sort of competence. Given that it's liable to go anywhere, good luck putting it across for strikes regularly.

2.) Because the modern trend in baseball is always towards faster, harder, more overpowering. Dickey mentioned that in the modern era there's a strong institutional presumption against someone whose "stuff" consists mostly of pitches thrown somewhere around 65-75 MPH, regardless of the on-field results. The results may be effective, but they're not pretty or shiny in the way that appeals to either scouts or managers. In other words: prejudice.

Dickey's been one of the few likable things about the Seattle Mariners' season so far. He's earned the right to try for a rotation spot next season at the very least.

Regarding knuckleballers in the major leagues, their number currently consists of but a pair, of whom both belong to an exclusive club which boasts only two names on its membership logs, those being the duo which are the dual subjects of this article concerning a small fraternity of pitchers who throw the knuckler: Wakefield, of course, is one, and his lesser known compatriot, Dickey, is the second of the two.

It's entirely possible the number of knuckleballers in the majors will double between now and October - Charlies Haeger and Zink are both pitching well in AAA. (Zink moreso than Haeger.)

What's with all these guys named Charlie who throw the knuckleball?

It doesn't take much imagination to guess what I thought this headline said the first time I read it.

1.) Because the knuckleball is an insanely hard pitch to throw with any sort of competence. Given that it's liable to go anywhere, good luck putting it across for strikes regularly.

2.) Because the modern trend in baseball is always towards faster, harder, more overpowering. Dickey mentioned that in the modern era there's a strong institutional presumption against someone whose "stuff" consists mostly of pitches thrown somewhere around 65-75 MPH, regardless of the on-field results. The results may be effective, but they're not pretty or shiny in the way that appeals to either scouts or managers. In other words: prejudice.

Thanks Esoteric. #2 was what I was thinking too. I would think that a pitcher whose 'stuff' is marginal, and whose chances of getting more than a cup of joe at the big league level are slim to none, would be more than open to at least trying to master the pitch. But what do I know?

Five is right out!

Well done sir. I nearly spit out my Margarita. My 8 YO son has no clue what I'm on about. "Dad's a little touched in the head" probably sums up his thoughts.

1.) Because the knuckleball is an insanely hard pitch to throw with any sort of competence. Given that it's liable to go anywhere, good luck putting it across for strikes regularly.

Yeah, I love the Willie Stargell quote about the knuckler:
"Throwing a knuckleball for a strike is like throwing a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbor's mailbox."

Re: 2, Zink is borderline dominant in AAA and not only does he not have any chance of getting called up, there's also no chance of him getting flipped to another team for an MLB reliever or something because no one will touch him. It's GUBU.

What's with all these guys named Charlie who throw the knuckleball?

It's an old-fashioned name for a old-fashioned pitch. Charlie Zink just sounds like one of Honus Wagner's more obscure teammates.

To elaborate more on why there are so few knuckleballers, all knuckleballers started out as something else (be it regular pitchers or even position players), and turned to the knuckleball as a last resort. That kind of stuff doesn't work as a kid, where the best pitch is one that you can just blow by every batter. As players advance, that becomes progressively less true, and the best pitcher becomes one who can hit his spots and keep hitters off balance. However, by then, all of the players who don't have "good stuff" have been weeded out, and the players who are left have little incentive to mess with success. They only start throwing a knuckler when they are out of options, and at that point, the old guys trying to completely reinvent themselves are much less attractive than the fresh young players.

I hadn't heard of Zink before so I looked him up-- he's probably the only ballplayer who's an alum of Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design.

I hadn't heard of Zink before so I looked him up-- he's probably the only ballplayer who's an alum of Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design.

Not necessarily -- that's Luis Tiant's team.

Former team, I believe. Still, that was an extremely funky pairing on the coast.

SCAD has turned out a couple more pros.

http://www.scadathletics.com/index.asp?path=baseball

I hadn't heard of Zink before so I looked him up-- he's probably the only ballplayer who's an alum of Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design.

Yankees drafted Ryan Pope from there in the 3rd round last year. The Braves also drafted someone from there this year.

...Dickey said, “but it takes a special amount of fortitude to throw a 65 mph pitch to Vladimir Guerrero.”

Zito nods his head, knowingly.

http://www.scadathletics.com/index.asp?path=baseball

OK I'll admit I was judging that school by name only when I assumed nobody else would have played there. Hadn't heard of Zink or SCAD before today. But I'm glad to know there's a school called "SCAD" out there. That sounds like an acronym for some James Bond super-villain organization.

Whatever happened to the Niekro kid? You have thought that he would have learned enough from uncle Phil or his late father Joe how to throw the Knuckler. If he decides to "reverse Ankiel", I'd put him at good odds of success.

Yankees drafted Ryan Pope from there in the 3rd round last year.

In fact, Chad Bradford Wannabe talked to the pitching coach of Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design when Pope was drafted.

As impressed as I was with Pope's mechanics, I was equally impressed with his pitching coach in college, David Haverstick, with whom I had the pleasure of talking for a few minutes. As many of you can tell with the tone of my articles, I'm not a guy who is easily impressed. That said, David Haverstick really knows what he is talking about. I can't begin to tell you how impressed I was with his knowledge of pitching mechanics.

Pope has been solid in the minors so far. Richard Sullivan (this year's Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design draftee) has gotten off to a solid start, too. Neither one is young for their level, but both have decent strikeout rates (both just under one per inning) and stellar walk rates. Hopefully one can keep it up and become a good major leaguer.

Charlie Zink may not be the only baseball prospect from Savannah College of Art and Design, but he's probably the only one whose parents both worked at Folsom Prison.

SCAD must be an odd college. The only other thing I know about it is that one of my friends went there after getting kicked out one of the military academies for being a drug dealer.

This reminds me of Bob File. Who is...wow, one of THREE MLB players to have come from Philadelphia Textile. I thought he was the only one.
(now it's called Philadelphia University. why didn't Temple take that name when it was available?)

SCAD must be an odd college.

From everything I know about it, it is. Which doesn't distinguish the place from any other art school.