A Knuckleballer's Glove David and I were just discussing the active knuckleball pitchers in MLB when I came across an article about the glove used by those who catch for R.A. Dickey. It’s no surprise that it’s different, but I love the idea of a pitcher carrying around a specific glove because no one else has them.
Because there are so few knuckleball pitchers, Rawlings had only one [knuckleball glove] on hand. It was sitting in a closet in the company’s headquarters in St. Louis, and Cohen had it shipped overnight to Cleveland, the Mets’ next destination.
And I was going to let you just go to that Wikipedia article yourself, but I can’t help but post about the active pitchers using the knuckler.
As of 2010, [Tim] Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox and R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets are the only knucklers in the big leagues, though minor leaguers Charlie Zink of the Rochester Red Wings and Charlie Haeger of the Albuquerque Isotopes also throw the knuckleball. In November 2008 it was announced that 16 year old knuckleballer Eri Yoshida was drafted as the first woman ever to play in Japanese professional baseball for the Kobe 9 Cruise of the Kansai Independent Baseball League. On March 2, 2010, she trained with Tim Wakefield at the Boston Red Sox minor league training facility. and on April 8, 2010, she signed with the Chico Outlaws, debuting on May 29, 2010. Detroit Tigers reliever Eddie Bonine also throws a knuckleball, though he does so infrequently as compared to pitchers who use it as a primary pitch. Lance Niekro, son of Joe Niekro, attempted to convert from a position player to a knuckleball pitcher. He started the 2009 season with the Gulf Coast League Braves but is currently listed as a free agent.
The photo is copyright Tony Dejak/Associated Press