The Knuckleball Club

The Extraordinary Men Who Mastered Baseball's Most Difficult Pitch

Richard A. Johnson

The knuckleball—so difficult to hit but also difficult to control and catch—has been a part of major league baseball since the early 1900s and continues to be used to this day. This remarkable and unusual pitch is the instrument of a special breed of pitcher, a determined athlete possessing tremendous concentration, self confidence, and a willingness to weather all kinds of adversity.

In The Knuckleball Club: The Extraordinary Men Who Mastered Baseball's Most Difficult Pitch, Richard A. Johnson provides an informal history of the wildest, weirdest, most mesmerizing pitch of all time. Beginning with an examination of the invention of the knuckleball, Johnson then briefly touches upon the science and psychology of the pitch before profiling the game’s great knuckleballers. Rich in anecdotes and interviews, this book shares the unique stories of Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro, Jim Bouton, Tom Candiotti, Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey, and many others. Also featured are the stories of the best knuckleball catchers, from Bob Uecker and Doug Mirabelli to Rick Ferrell and Paul Richards.

While knuckleballers today are an anomaly, decades ago a surprisingly large number of major league pitchers used the knuckler. The Knuckleball Club is the first book to provide a comprehensive survey of the pitch and the players who used it, offering a deep understanding of how the knuckleball has fit into the fabric of the game over the past one hundred years. Anyone wanting to learn more about this unusual pitch, from baseball historians and fans to current and former players, will find this book an entertaining and enlightening read.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 320 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-4422-6169-3 • Hardback • June 2016 • $50.00 • (£38.00)

978-1-4422-6170-9 • eBook • June 2016 • $47.00 • (£36.00)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History, Sports & Recreation / Baseball / Biography

The Knuckleball Club

The Extraordinary Men Who Mastered Baseball's Most Difficult Pitch

Hardback

eBook

Summary

The knuckleball—so difficult to hit but also difficult to control and catch—has been a part of major league baseball since the early 1900s and continues to be used to this day. This remarkable and unusual pitch is the instrument of a special breed of pitcher, a determined athlete possessing tremendous concentration, self confidence, and a willingness to weather all kinds of adversity.

In The Knuckleball Club: The Extraordinary Men Who Mastered Baseball's Most Difficult Pitch, Richard A. Johnson provides an informal history of the wildest, weirdest, most mesmerizing pitch of all time. Beginning with an examination of the invention of the knuckleball, Johnson then briefly touches upon the science and psychology of the pitch before profiling the game’s great knuckleballers. Rich in anecdotes and interviews, this book shares the unique stories of Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro, Jim Bouton, Tom Candiotti, Tim Wakefield, R.A. Dickey, and many others. Also featured are the stories of the best knuckleball catchers, from Bob Uecker and Doug Mirabelli to Rick Ferrell and Paul Richards.

While knuckleballers today are an anomaly, decades ago a surprisingly large number of major league pitchers used the knuckler. The Knuckleball Club is the first book to provide a comprehensive survey of the pitch and the players who used it, offering a deep understanding of how the knuckleball has fit into the fabric of the game over the past one hundred years. Anyone wanting to learn more about this unusual pitch, from baseball historians and fans to current and former players, will find this book an entertaining and enlightening read.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 320 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-4422-6169-3 • Hardback • June 2016 • $50.00 • (£38.00)

978-1-4422-6170-9 • eBook • June 2016 • $47.00 • (£36.00)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Baseball / History, Sports & Recreation / Baseball / Biography

Author

Richard A. Johnson is Print Editor of Automotive News, the world’s largest auto industry business publication. He has written feature articles for several magazines, including American Heritage, Golf Magazine, and Psychology Today, and is the author of two books, American Fads and Six Men Who Built the Modern Auto Industry.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: Bug-Tossers
Chapter 2: An Eerie Sort of Fooler
Chapter 3: A Baseball in “Crisis”
Chapter 4: Eddie Rommel: “Put Something on the Ball, You Ham!”
Chapter 5: The Dutchman: “He Might Be a Salesman or a Farmer or a Mechanic”
Chapter 6: Wend It Like Wilhelm
Chapter 7: “Geez, Geez”: Wilhelm’s No-Hitter
Chapter 8: “Sometimes I Thought I’d Never Make It”
Chapter 9: The Family Heirloom
Chapter 10: Wilbur Wonderful
Chapter 11: “From Now on I’m Throwing a Knuckleball”
Chapter 12: “You Wouldn’t Notice If a Bomb Hit”
Chapter 13: Knuckleballers in Abundance
Chapter 14: Knotorious Knuckleballs
Chapter 15: Two Bulldogs
Chapter 16: “We Did It”
Chapter 17: The Knuckleball Club
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Reviews

An in depth look at the most confounding pitch ever to grace the game of baseball. The who’s, whats and why’s of this quirky pitch are covered in this book. It also shares the stories of the Pitchers and Catchers who shared the success of the weird and wild pitch. This is the first book I have found that has shown how it fits into the fabric of the game, and is great knowledge for the average baseball fan. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.
— Gregg's Baseball Bookcase

[I]nformative and enjoyable [is the] book The Knuckleball Club.... Johnson’s most impressive
achievement might be in helping his readers understand the mental discipline common to successful knuckleballer pitchers.
— The Inside Game: The Official Newsletter of SABR's Deadball Era Committee

The Knuckleball Club needs to be read—I know you will really enjoy it.
— Phil Niekro, Hall of Fame pitcher

I could throw every pitch but one—the knuckler! Enjoyed reading about these unique pitchers with a very unique talent to throw the most unique pitch of them all—the knuckleball!
— Frank Tanana, MLB pitcher and three-time All Star selection