As a kid, he made me feel I could make the majors if I just learned to throw a knuckle ball. Every pitch made you hold your breath because it either dazzled or de-knuckled into a meatball right over the middle of the zone and out onto Yawkey.
Legend.
I remember as a teenager going to a Sox game and was kind of disappointed Wake was on the mound and not whoever our #1 was at that time (Beckett probably, but I forget exactly which year it was). Had seats 3 rows back right behind home plate. After a few innings, I genuine felt bad for opposing batters, it was like someone trying to catch a fly in their hand. Seeing a knuckleball on the tv broadcast angle makes it look very tame and easy to hit but it was absurd how much it moved (especially how unpredictably) from batter point of view.
Here’s the thing with knuckleball pitchers. If you throw a knuckleball without spin, almost no one can hit it without plain old luck. The only problem comes when you don’t throw a good one. Those are the ones that are batting practice. So the best knuckleball pitchers are the ones who make the fewest mistakes, not the ones with the best knuckleball.
8 comments
He was the Greatest Person of All Time.
I miss Wake! Fucking legend on and off the field!
As a kid, he made me feel I could make the majors if I just learned to throw a knuckle ball. Every pitch made you hold your breath because it either dazzled or de-knuckled into a meatball right over the middle of the zone and out onto Yawkey.
Legend.
I remember as a teenager going to a Sox game and was kind of disappointed Wake was on the mound and not whoever our #1 was at that time (Beckett probably, but I forget exactly which year it was). Had seats 3 rows back right behind home plate. After a few innings, I genuine felt bad for opposing batters, it was like someone trying to catch a fly in their hand. Seeing a knuckleball on the tv broadcast angle makes it look very tame and easy to hit but it was absurd how much it moved (especially how unpredictably) from batter point of view.
Here’s the thing with knuckleball pitchers. If you throw a knuckleball without spin, almost no one can hit it without plain old luck. The only problem comes when you don’t throw a good one. Those are the ones that are batting practice. So the best knuckleball pitchers are the ones who make the fewest mistakes, not the ones with the best knuckleball.
Wake was one of the greatest!
WAKE!!!
Mercy
One of the clips is of RA Dickey 😂