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Knuckleball: The History of the Unhittable Pitch
“It took me a day to learn [the knuckleball] and a lifetime to learn how to throw it for a strike.”
This quote, by pitcher and coach Charlie Hough, is the best way to understand baseball’s most baffling and mysterious pitch. Not even the best practitioners of the art of throwing a knuckleball know where it is going most of the time. As a pitch that floats and comes into the plate in what appears to be slow motion, it is miraculous that those who employ the pitch don’t get creamed all over the park by batters who seem to know that it’s coming.
Including interviews with Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, former All-Stars Wilbur Wood and Tim Wakefield, as well as other famed knuckleballers, Lew Freedman ( Clouds over the Goalpost , A Summer to Remember ), breaks down the history of this infamous pitch, which it seems can be traced back to Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Cicotte, as well as its effect on baseball as a whole.
With pitcher R. A. Dickey, who rejuvenated his career from castoff to 2011 Cy Young Award winner, the knuckleball is still a topic of conversation in the sport, and it continues to be one of the many marvels of our national pastime.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.
Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
This quote, by pitcher and coach Charlie Hough, is the best way to understand baseball’s most baffling and mysterious pitch. Not even the best practitioners of the art of throwing a knuckleball know where it is going most of the time. As a pitch that floats and comes into the plate in what appears to be slow motion, it is miraculous that those who employ the pitch don’t get creamed all over the park by batters who seem to know that it’s coming.
Including interviews with Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, former All-Stars Wilbur Wood and Tim Wakefield, as well as other famed knuckleballers, Lew Freedman ( Clouds over the Goalpost , A Summer to Remember ), breaks down the history of this infamous pitch, which it seems can be traced back to Chicago White Sox pitcher Ed Cicotte, as well as its effect on baseball as a whole.
With pitcher R. A. Dickey, who rejuvenated his career from castoff to 2011 Cy Young Award winner, the knuckleball is still a topic of conversation in the sport, and it continues to be one of the many marvels of our national pastime.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.
Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 3, 2015
16 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 14, 2019
I like to read baseball books, especially when spring training begins. Reading about knuckleball pitchers is a treat. I enjoyed learning about Hoyt Wilhelm, the Niekro brothers, and the other pitchers. Good stuff.
June 13, 2025
Interesting book on a very interesting subject: the knuckleball.
The author should have used more modern stats to discuss the profiles of the pitchers, and not just limit it to wins, losses and ERA.
The author should have used more modern stats to discuss the profiles of the pitchers, and not just limit it to wins, losses and ERA.
April 13, 2019
I wish I could throw a knuckleball.
Great subject, but the book is to scattered.
Great subject, but the book is to scattered.
August 17, 2017
If you're a diehard baseball fan, chances are that you're fascinated and amused by the knuckleball, a slow-moving pitch thrown so that it has little to no rotation; which causes it to move unpredictably in the air, baffling hitters. This book is a history of the pitchers (rather few of them) who have made a living throwing them.
The book has a pretty good grasp of facts (the few errors I noticed were trivial), and would make a decent enough read for someone in the middle stages of developing their knowledge of baseball history. More knowledgeable readers will not find much of interest that they didn't already know, and will probably be bothered by the book's lack of depth; it's pretty much a narration of surface facts and gathered quotes. To the extent that Freedman attempts to provide any insight, it's laughable; when he writes, for instance, "The key to Wilhelm's success was that he hardly ever gave up any runs"... well, let's just say that a savvy baseball writer would never have written that sentence. Roughly every other page, he repeats the observation that even the pitchers throwing the knuckleball don't understand the pitch and have no idea where it's going to go; largely because he doesn't have anything else to say.
Frequent repetitions, sentences which seem to be missing important words, sentences which seem to not belong in the paragraphs they were dropped into... in general, this book gives an amateurish impression, both in the writing and editing. Bottom line: this is a bad baseball book, almost saved by its fascinating subject matter.
The book has a pretty good grasp of facts (the few errors I noticed were trivial), and would make a decent enough read for someone in the middle stages of developing their knowledge of baseball history. More knowledgeable readers will not find much of interest that they didn't already know, and will probably be bothered by the book's lack of depth; it's pretty much a narration of surface facts and gathered quotes. To the extent that Freedman attempts to provide any insight, it's laughable; when he writes, for instance, "The key to Wilhelm's success was that he hardly ever gave up any runs"... well, let's just say that a savvy baseball writer would never have written that sentence. Roughly every other page, he repeats the observation that even the pitchers throwing the knuckleball don't understand the pitch and have no idea where it's going to go; largely because he doesn't have anything else to say.
Frequent repetitions, sentences which seem to be missing important words, sentences which seem to not belong in the paragraphs they were dropped into... in general, this book gives an amateurish impression, both in the writing and editing. Bottom line: this is a bad baseball book, almost saved by its fascinating subject matter.
April 8, 2018
I consider myself a serious baseball fan. The knuckleball is a fascinating pitch, worthy of a book's worth of discussion.
I did learn some interesting things, such as the fact that most successful knuckleballers learned the pitch as a youngster, rather than trying to learn it cold when they're in their 30s with a dying career.
Freedman's narrative got repetitive and boring. But my biggest complaint is that Freedman uses antiquated statistics to discuss the successes and failures of pitchers. He almost exclusively relied on W-L records and ERAs. While ERA is not bad, relying on W-L records is a complete joke. There were numerous times that in the interest of space, Freedman would mention a pitcher's performance in a particular season by simply giving his W-L record, which is beyond a joke.
A good idea, poorly executed.
I did learn some interesting things, such as the fact that most successful knuckleballers learned the pitch as a youngster, rather than trying to learn it cold when they're in their 30s with a dying career.
Freedman's narrative got repetitive and boring. But my biggest complaint is that Freedman uses antiquated statistics to discuss the successes and failures of pitchers. He almost exclusively relied on W-L records and ERAs. While ERA is not bad, relying on W-L records is a complete joke. There were numerous times that in the interest of space, Freedman would mention a pitcher's performance in a particular season by simply giving his W-L record, which is beyond a joke.
A good idea, poorly executed.
February 28, 2025
If you're like me and appreciate nuance (and what can be more nuance than a book about one pitch.) and are a baseball fan than this book is for you. And it's just not the well-known knuckleball pitchers that are mentioned in this book, there's stories about knuckleball pitchers that were in major leagues only long enough to maybe have a cup of coffee. Knuckleball pitchers are a different breed, who feel their brothers with each other, and communicate with each other during the season after a knuckleball pitcher retires and will sometime fly to another city to coach or counsel a fellow knuckleball pitcher. one problem I did have with book is that the writer puts too much emphasis on pitchers win/lost record. A pitcher could have a poor win lost record because he doesn't get enough run support. This is actually the second book I have read about this subject. There are some funny stories and interesting stories and lame stories in this book that go long way in making this book interesting. What I liked best about this book is interesting things about players in retirement and some interesting things about a few players that I didn't know before.
October 8, 2020
An interesting topic and this book hits the high spots but does not go very deep. If you are a baseball fan and have read a lot of baseball history, there is very little new information here.
The book is an easy read but could have used a good editor and proof reader. Much material is repeated from chapter to chapter as if the reader can not remember what he read before. There are mistakes (as a National League player winning the America League Rookie of the Year) but they are not major. I enjoyed Niekro's and Dickey's books better.
The book is an easy read but could have used a good editor and proof reader. Much material is repeated from chapter to chapter as if the reader can not remember what he read before. There are mistakes (as a National League player winning the America League Rookie of the Year) but they are not major. I enjoyed Niekro's and Dickey's books better.
October 23, 2024
An entertaining read about a subject near and dear to me. My only chance to play professional baseball is mastering this elusive pitch to hit. It's the same reason Phil Niekro and his brother Joe, Wilbur Wood, Hoyt Wilhelm and others played for so long. It's a great community that gives back to others teaching effective knucklers. Love the book and the pitch.
December 3, 2019
Pretty good! I like that each chapter was about a different pitcher - made it easy to pick up
July 8, 2015
If I wasn't a diehard baseball fan, this would get a 2. I would not recommend reading unless you are also a diehard baseball fan.
July 29, 2015
Review of the history of pitchers throwing the knuckleball in MLB; with particulate HOFers Hoyt Wilhelm and Phil Neikro.
November 9, 2015
Very interesting chronicle of the pitch and the men who threw it for a living. For a long time fan, there is nothing brand new, but it is still fun to read about all of these pitchers in one place.
November 12, 2015
It was okay
February 18, 2016
It's a book about the knuckleball. Not much more to say. It was ok but not a favorite of mine.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews