Friday, April 18, 2008
Knuckleballer Goes Tonight
I am pretty darn excited to watch the first Mariner start of newborn knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. If you're like me, then you may just be learning about Mr. Dickey, so I thought I'd put in a few links in one handy place.
His wikipedia page mentions that he had been unsuccessfully sued for stealing the pitch that he used to call "The Thang", and has now become his bread and butter pitch. More impressively, he has no ulnar collateral ligament (the ligament replaced in Tommy John surgery) in his pitching arm!
In late February, he got some national attention with this article in the New York Times which is a must-read for any Mariner fan. His story is fascinating, and if he can get batters out with his fast-knuckleball, we may have a third must-watch pitcher in the rotation and a tougher decision on what to do when Erik Bedard returns.
Most of the blogosphere seems excited about the arrival of a knuckleballer. USSM sees it as a low-risk, high-reward move. Dr. Detecto does its usual good job with his Player of the Day writeup (POTD).
I'm a longtime fan of the knuckleball, and I can't wait for tonight and can only hope that its the start of a long love affair between Seattle and Mr. Dickey.
His wikipedia page mentions that he had been unsuccessfully sued for stealing the pitch that he used to call "The Thang", and has now become his bread and butter pitch. More impressively, he has no ulnar collateral ligament (the ligament replaced in Tommy John surgery) in his pitching arm!
In late February, he got some national attention with this article in the New York Times which is a must-read for any Mariner fan. His story is fascinating, and if he can get batters out with his fast-knuckleball, we may have a third must-watch pitcher in the rotation and a tougher decision on what to do when Erik Bedard returns.
Most of the blogosphere seems excited about the arrival of a knuckleballer. USSM sees it as a low-risk, high-reward move. Dr. Detecto does its usual good job with his Player of the Day writeup (POTD).
I'm a longtime fan of the knuckleball, and I can't wait for tonight and can only hope that its the start of a long love affair between Seattle and Mr. Dickey.
