Knuckleball Quotes & Sayings

There are two theories on hitting the knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither of them works. — Charley Lau

How do you catch a knuckleball? You wait until it stops rolling, then go pick it up. — Bob Uecker

You don't catch the knuckleball, you defend against it. — Joe Torre

I couldn't throw a knuckleball if my life depended on it. — Gio Gonzalez

It's a pitch you can extend your career with because it's less taxing on your body. It's like dog years, but in reverse. I feel like I'm 27 or 26 in knuckleball years! — R.A. Dickey

There aren't many hitters who like facing knuckleball pitchers. They may not be intimidated by them, but they sure are thinking about them before they go into the box. — Phil Niekro

Throwing a knuckleball for a strike is like throwing a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbor's mailbox. — Willie Stargell

[A knuckleball is] a curve ball that doesn't give a damn. — Jimmy Cannon

Ball parks are smaller and baseballs are livelier. They've practically got pitchers wearing straitjackets. Bah! They still allow the knuckleball, and that is three times as hard to control. — Ed Walsh

Knuckleball pitching is a very small fraternity. — Tim Wakefield

I don't really feel much more confident than I did the last couple years. I've always felt like I have a pretty good knuckleball. I worked hard to do that.? — R.A. Dickey

My dad played for a coal-mining team in eastern Ohio; he was a very good pitcher. If he hadn't hurt his arm, he probably would have got a shot somewhere. He hurt his arm one spring, didn't warm up good enough, couldn't throw a fastball anymore. Another coal miner taught him how to throw the knuckleball. — Phil Niekro

Never reach for the knuckleball; I just let it come to me. — Rick Ferrell

Look for the seams (on a knuckleball) and then hit in-between them. — Harmon Killebrew

He (Hoyt Wilhelm) had the best knuckleball you'd ever want to see. He knew where it was going when he threw it, but when he got two strikes on you, he'd break out one that even he didn't know where it was going. — Brooks Robinson

You know, catching the knuckleball, it's like trying to catch a fly with a chopstick. — Jason Varitek

The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up. — Bob Uecker

I remember going to see my dad pitch against other coal-mining teams, and he was successful with the knuckleball. I saw how bad guys would look like swinging, and how guys talked about how he could throw every day and didn't hurt his arm. That's how I grew up learning. — Phil Niekro

Like some cult religion that barely survives, there has always been at least one but rarely more than five or six devotees throwing the knuckleball in the big leagues ... Not only can't pitchers control it, hitters can't hit it, catchers can't catch it, coaches can't coach it and most pitchers can't learn it. The perfect pitch. — Ron Luciano

There's very few pitching coaches that I worked with that actually came out on the mound and told me what I was doing wrong with the knuckleball. Because they just didn't know. So I had to figure it out. I was on my own. — Phil Niekro

It's (Phil Niekro's knuckleball) like watching Mario Andretti park a car. — Ralph Kiner

The # knuckleball can be a metaphor of what it's like to let go. — R.A. Dickey