Knuckleballs & Grips From the Last 69 Years
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- Опубликовано: 22 янв 2022
- Knuckleballs are everyone's favorite, and here are the most prolific throwers of the beautiful pitch from the last 6.9 decades. Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro, Charlie Hough, Tom Candiotti, Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey, Steven Wright, Mickey Jannis, Steve Sparks, Joe Niekro and Alex Blandino are all featured. Also see Knuckleball Grips from Knuckleball legends!
If you want more knuckleballs...this is a good video of RA Dickey from the catcher's view:
• Video
Music: Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky • Waltz of the Flowers -...
1812 Overture (by Tchaikosvky) by Tchaikovsky
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Music provided by FreeMusic109 / freemusic109
Best knuckleball compilation on the internet. You’re a legend for taking the time to find all this footage. Coolest pitch in baseball.
Thanks! It took a week or so, but it was worth it...I think :)
One reason why i still throw a knuckleball and promote it to my teams. Knuckleballs will never die as long as I'm alive and coaching
@@PitchingNinjaVideos it was defiantly worth it my guy
A Knuckleball pitcher on a good day is probably my favorite thing to watch.
Yes sir, makes me smile and love it all the more!
Congrats, PN, for discovering that the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Faeries" is the PERFECT music to play during knuckleball highlights. Genius! (or, Waltz of the Flowers, but you get what I mean)
Inspired by the pool scene in Caddyshack I hope 😂
RIP Tim Wakefield. You were an influence to many kids baseball careers. Everyone tried to throw knuckleballs in warmups like you did in the big leagues. You’ll be missed!
There’s actually a video of Eddie Rommel who was a knuckleballer from the 1920’s showing how he throws his knuckleball. It’s apart of a Philadelphia A’s spring training video
Good call! I'll check it out.
Ah Tim Wakefield, it was always a nervous excitement when he was on the mound as a Red Sox fan because he'd either make pro hitters look silly or get rocked for 5 runs but either way he'd get you 7 innings of work.
I started watching baseball because of Wakefield. In 2002 (I'm from Brazil) I caught one game with him on the mound on ESPN. I already had a slight notion of the rules of the game, but it never really interested me. But when I saw that thing dancing I remember asking myself 'how does he do this?' Well, long story short: twenty years later I still love the game and watch as many Red Sox games as I can. Thanks for these videos, Ninja!
That's awesome Lorenzo! Knuckleballs create fans for life.
I was always a fan of baseball but never really watched games like that until the 2003 playoffs when the Yankees Redsox rivalry kicked back in and I just remember seeing Tim Wakefield throw that knuckle ball and as big of a Yankee fan as I am and was taught to hate the Sox I couldn't help but be Amazed at the pitch Wakefield was throwing....made it even more special when Boone came up and hit a walk off homerun to win that game 7....Best pitch in Baseball
@@PitchingNinjaVideos for me it was using the pitch playing high heat 2003 with my friends growing up. the knuckleball in that game was crazyyyy, lol
It’s crazy how important having perfectly groomed fingernails are to a knuckleballer. I remember watching that game where R.A. chipped one of his throwing nails, and had to leave the game.
Yes I was a knuckleballer I’m high school, people would always ask me why I had two fingernails perfect and longer then the rest of my fingers. I would look and smile saying “come to a game you’ll see why”
@@LeFroog that’s my most knuckleballer response to smack talk I’ve ever heard. Love it.
@@LeFroog I got myself a backup I don’t need my nails I can use my finger joints right above my whole nail
@@jcboutdatlife1825 i found using the joints to be much better for me due to my short fingers (7cm or 3 3/4 inches on my index and about 1cm or half and inch longer on my middle)
Lmaooo strikeout at 2:17 is like ten inches off the plate I love it
Umpire is the infamous Eric Gregg, I'm pretty sure.
@@cody6052 I still remember that playoff game he umpired. Every pitch was a strike that day
I came to the comments just to make sure someone had noted it 😂 I know the camera angle probably makes it look worse than it truly was but my god even still that’s gotta be one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen.
Phil Niekro gotta be one of the best finesse pitchers ever
Definitely. I actually just commented on a thread with his nephew on another video. Sucks him and Joe are both gone now. I was a Yankee fan in the mid 80’s as a kid. Phil was the wiley old veteran on the staff. Always fun to watch pitch.
RIP Tim Wakefield. I met him twice and have a signed ball from him. He invited me and my older brother back to the hotel restaurant they were staying at when I was living in Los Angeles. Bought me my mom and my brother drinks. Such an awesome and nice guy who loved talking about baseball. You will be missed Tim. Too soon RIP
i am CACKLING watching this video. these pitches are absurd. tremendous work, ninja!
Awesome--thanks!
the movement of this pitch is nuts! I wonder what the wiff rate on knuckleballs is... and why more pitchers dont throw it?
I love Bob Uecker's technique for catching knuckleball pitchers. "When the ball stops rolling, walk back and pick it up."
I remember when Gus Triandos had Wilson come up with the "elephant" mitt to help him catch Hoyt Wilhelm when he was at Baltimore.
There's also a story about when a Baltimore coach sent out a minor league catcher to take some of Wilhelm's warm-up throws. As he was trotting out to the plate, the coach yelled out, "Hold on, you forgot your mask."
The catcher responded, "What do I need a mask for? I'm just catching some warm-up pitches."
When he revived on the training table he said, "I don't get it. The ball was up there, I reached for it and it hit me in the face!"
This might be my favourite video of all time
Thanks Nick! It took a while...but it was worth it, I think.
Nothing better than watching catcher try to handle a nasty knuckler. I love when it’s right down the middle but clanks off the mitt. We need more knuckleballers in MLB!
I always wonder if the pitchers feel bad for their catcher when they know they threw a really good knuckle ball. The catcher has to work overtime and is just as lost as the batter, worst case scenario there's a stolen base or something if they can't catch it or find it. I wonder what the relationship is like between knuckleballers and their catchers
@@TheGoodChap Phil Niekro said he had no sympathy for them at all 😆
@@fenderjazzbrian lmaooo that's honestly a really funny response. If you're a knuckler and even your catcher can't get it you've got to feel pretty good you just threw the nastiest pitch. I guess it's a sign of it working
@@TheGoodChap Charlie Hough has said he felt bad for his catchers and he appreciated the effort they put into catching him.
Wilbur Wood in the early 1970s was the reason why I learned to throw a knuckle ball. It took two years of practice to get where I could throw it in a game. Once you discover the proper release point and follow through, muscle memory kicks in, and you can repeat it over and over. Kids today only think about throwing the ball 100 MPH, and that's why 7th graders are having Tommy John surgery.
The movement on some of Wright’s knucklers is wild.
Totally agree--insane
The music was perfectly chosen for the video.
Shout out to the catchers who have to catch these guys. Great video!
The music selection was absolutely perfect.
Nothing more fun than being a casual well after you no longer play…. Hanging with a friend who wants to just play some catch….
Getting comfortable with how well they catch and how fast they tolerate you throwing and toss in a knuckleball. Them catching it if lucky and saying, “What the heck! That thing was wiggling!”
The perfect word to describe the pitch is erratic, you never can tell what’s truly coming when a knuckleball is thrown, if thrown by a very lucky, very talented man it’s the best pitch you can throw, if thrown by an unlucky man no matter the skill it is the worst pitch possible
I remember seeing a pitch overlay of some pitchers typical fastball and curveball. Always generally in the same spots. Then R A Dickeys knucleball overaly was just everywhere, no consistency at all. Liek you said, truly erratic
Best knuckleball video of all time
6:20 is the funniest one of them all easily because he is doing what we all were thinking watching this which is to simply close your eyes and hope you catch it lol!
Haha I just made a similar comment a moment ago. He does the exact same thing next clip 6:25. You’d think you’d want to see it all the way through.
Best video on the knuckleball I've ever seen! Some of the camera footage was phenomenal!
My daughter is a professional ballerina, so I have heard Tchaikovsky's various different movements of the nutcracker suite about 100 times. I have never heard it feels so Christmasy as I am watching Tim Wakefield folding batters.
The Knuckleball: A Catcher`s Nightmare When the Batter Has Two Strikes. Awesome video, Ninja!!
This is easily the BEST knuckleball video I've seen!
I feel so relaxed after watching this.
It took a god-like pitch to make a god-like hitter like Ichiro to look ridiculous at the plate.
0-2 spins, 999999 movement.
I HAD to include that one for that reason!
Pete Rose said of Phil Niekro's knuckleball, "Trying to hit that thing is a miserable way to make a living."
But he also said “if Mrs. Niekro had quintuplets, I would have had 5000 hits”
Steven Wrights stuff blew me away. Daaaaamn.
I can watch this all day
Watched this video about 100 times, can’t get enough. Been trying to throw it myself for about 2 years and still can’t get it down all the way. Eventually I will, but I would love to get on my college team and use it. The Knuckleball is truly the best pitch in baseball.
I can’t imagine how nerve wracking it must be for the catchers
It might just be the better video quality, but of all the knuckleball pitchers I've had the pleasure to watch, Stephen Wright got by far the most movement out of his knucklers. I mean, look at 8:45. That's black magic stuff right there.
Yep--I agree. It may be somewhat the camera angle, but his movement was insane.
Excellent video. When your pitch is making the catcher look drunk, you got a winning grip. 😂
Love it... Knuckleballs making some of the greatest hitters look like complete chumps...
This is such a great compilation. Rad! Thanks for making it.
My favourite video of yours. These guys are so underrated IMO.
Thanks Luna!
Thanks for the knuckler love!
It took forever...but was fun to make!
Thank you for a great video on the knuckleball! I was a big fan of the knuckleball ever since I was a kid. I asked my dad who was a good pitcher. "What is a knuckleball? His response was instead of me telling you let me show you. We went out for a catch and he took a baseball put big x's on the ball. He threw the first pitch to me it was a fastball and asked me did I say anything? Of course I responded no I threw the ball back to him. what came heading towards me was something I never seen before, I could see the X on the ball I was so entranced by this that I almost forgot to catch the ball! Thank you again for the video and for bringing back some great memories!
This was a masterpiece, Ninja
God bless those catchers.
The first time I ever caught a knuckeball pitcher... the damn thing seemed to stop in mid-air four times on the way to the plate. A lot harder than it looks on TV.
Watching a lot of these videos were what inspired me to throw this pitch competitively. Although I don’t play anymore, I’ll always have the knuckler in my back pocket. Thanks for the memories, Ninja!
My pleasure, Dylan!
Wow, I’ve just learned I must be the only one throwing a knuckle ball with my actual knuckles.
What a terrific video! The music was great! Outstanding scenes of the pitch & the way the guys throw it. What a hoot watching the best baseball players in the world look like little kids trying to figure out where the damn ball is going! One thing though, the scenes with Tim Wakefield made me sad! What a class guy, lost to us way too soon! So glad he was in there. We need to be reminded just how precious life is! R.I.P. Tim Wakefield.
I was a huge Phil Niekro fan ! This is a great video !!
@@philippians4410 I started following Phil in 1979 and I was totally zoomed in on his performance. I was aware of Joe and their shared 20 win season in 1979. I watched Phil pitch in Atlanta in 1980 and 81.
@@philippians4410 I learned about the knuckle ball through following Phil's story. I am still trying to understand the entirety of the pitch. Phil was a strikeout leader and I wonder what made him so successful. Was it his release point or some special mechanic ?
Some days he would get lit up like a Christmas tree and other days he would baffle the hitters for 9 innings. It seemed unpredictable. It is the air current that makes the ball move . Right ?
5:27 most impressive part of the vid is to see Ichiro with a missed swing. Very, Very rare!
What a beautiful video. Thank you for this and thank God for the beautiful sport of baseball. ⚾
Glad you liked it!
Putting waltz of the flowers as the theme for the knuckle ball that dancing in mid air. The symphony in motions. What a gorgeous presentation, sir
I’m disappointed in myself with that being the first time I’ve watched this video, it will not be the last that’s mesmerising stuff man lethal. From the pitches to the music 😂 to the view of the pitchers after that’s absolutely brilliant that video 🥷🏻🔥
Excellent choice on music
This is a cool vid. It's amazing how much trouble the catchers have
Steven Wright's has incredible movement in both side as if defying gravity. The knuckle strikes me as the rarest pitch of all.
Wow, best knuckleball with how each throw it! Thanks! ⚾️🔥👍🏻
God damn this channel makes nothing but rocket 🔥 🔥🔥🔥
I got to watch Wake and Steve Sparks start against each other from the front row straightaway in center through binoculars at Fenway Park. Until they both came out, a lot of it looked like these centerfield camera views. What a feast for a knuckleball fan! If I had produced a video instead of written the book on this, I could have shown what this can do a whole lot better.
oh man, let's give it up for those catchers!
This video was so good, crying crossed my mind.
Just what I needed. Thanks for sharing.
Oh I love to see some knuckler love
I caught my entire life and I played with a kid in a U-16 league who would occasionally throw a knuckleball. It was a thing of beauty and frustrating as hell at the same time. I'd set up inside and it'd look like the pitch would end high and inside and than I'd have to block a pitch in the dirt low and away.
I was around 10 years old when I first saw Phil Niekro pitch. I've been trying to throw that darn thing ever since. Lol
The movement sometimes doesn’t seem that crazy…and then you see the catchers consistently struggling to make the catch. Nuts!
love the visuals and music, perfect 👌🏻
Thanks Mr. Fabulous!
Love this collection of knuckleball pitches, music choice was perfect. I can't get enough of how unpredictable the movement is from one pitch to the next and how they induce such terrible off-balance swings
When it makes a batter spin around and land on his ass 😄😄😄
Phil Nierkro definitely had the FILTHIEST knuckleball I've ever seen. That thing was slower and moved more than any other. Looks like he was 65 and still pitching.
Thank you so much for the video. My catcher may not be thanking you though!
Ha! Good luck to you...and your catcher.
The knuckleball is the most beautiful pitch in baseball.
Man that's the pitch of the Gods.
Knuckleballs: the only time everyone in the stadium knows what’s coming but nobody knows what’ll happen.
Thank you! I could use even more knuckleball. This is the best.
Thanks for watching!
I wish film/video was able to truely show the magical movement of the KB. Nothing but seeing is believing.❤️🔥✊
lot of #49 knuckleballers
That's really cool stuff !! ⚾
Thanks Chris! Hoping more pitchers start throwing them...Knuckleballs are just plain fun.
Wow Ninja thanks great video!
Masterpiece.
Awesome video I wish more pitchers used the knuckle ball now .👍
I definitely think it adds something to the game--it's such a pretty pitch!
I don’t. It’s a Beauty since it’s so rare but if everyone had one, it’s just a regular pitch like a fastball.
Incredible video and music!
Perfect music for the knuckleball
Dear pitching ninja, I think it would be great if you could make an interview to one or the best knuckleball pitchers, like Charlie Hough. Could be that possible? Give me some hope.
It is called the knuckleball because it was originally thrown with the knuckles, hence the name, but it was really hard to throw which is why people changed it to holding it with their fingers. It would take a lot of arm strength to even throw the ball to the plate without lots of practice, thus making people throw it with their fingers instead.
The music fits this video perfectly.
I didn't even notice this was a Pitching Ninja video. I saw the title and clicked. But I shoulda known. I mean he is a ninja after all
I went to a game in Cleveland. Phil Niekro started for the Indians, and it was right at the end of his career. That day you got to see what happens to even a great knuckleballer when his ball doesn't knuckle. The White Sox beat the Indians 17-0, most one sided game I ever saw in person. I don't remember how many of those runs were scored against Niekro before they took him out. It was a lonely day out on the lake. Only about 5,000 fans to begin with in that 80,000 seat stadium, and half of them left before the fifth inning.
Beautiful art
Niekro had that Ephus pitch goin
It's beautiful
It's tough to top a good knuckleball for sheer beauty.
8:46 is the perfect Knuckle. Good luck hitting a ball that sways both ways within a second.
Well done ninja. Might be your best one yet. It felt like I was watching a planet earth video. Haha 😂.
Also would be interesting to see knuckle curve and potentially screwball. Nothing beats the floater that’s screaming “HIT ME” until the bottom drops out and you’re walking back to the dugout smh
I loved this video! I love Pitching Ninja!!!!
Thanks Marc!
Fantastic
I like seeing Tom Candiotti along with Hoyt Wilhelm. The former portrayed the latter in the movie "61*"
6:20 Cather shutting his eyes just hoping and praying he’s going to catch it haha.
Some of those Candiotti throws were down right x-rated!
These are very cool.
I've have managed to throw a decent knuckleball in SOFTBALL.
Whoever managed this with a regular baseball, knows how tough is it.
Now, imagine a bigger ball, and throwing it UNDERHAND...
Wasn't working all the time, was harder on cold days, but on good days, some other teams were trying to make that pitch illegal...
Wasn't using it all the time, since I had a decent fastball and curve.
But when I pitched the knuckle out of the blue, the looks on the batters' faces were priceless...
Nice