Early in the 2017 season, Steven Wright had major knee surgery that kept him off the mound for the rest of the season. This year, although he got a late start, he lobbed his knuckleball excellently for several weeks before inflammation of that knee put him back on the disabled list. He is still out […]
A few days ago, R.A. Dickey’s breakout season was recalled in Kirk Meyer’s New York Daily News article “Best first-half performances by Yankees and Mets pitchers.” 2012: R.A. Dickey, Mets (12-1, 2.40 ERA, 123 strikeouts) Dickey caught lightning in a bottle with his knuckleball in 2012. At 38, Dickey peaked in June, when he threw […]
Do knuckleball catchers have a harder time hitting during games in which they are also lunging for knuckleballs? TheRinger.com cites the experiences of catchers like Tyler Flowers (pictured) and Russell Martin to suggest why this may be. Each has caught knuckleballs for R.A. Dickey. “It just kind of dawned on me one day that, like, ‘Man, I never seem […]
It’s looking good for knuckleball pitcher Steven Wright of the Boston Red Sox, who was knocked out of play last season by knee injury and surgery after participating in only a few games. Now he reports that after his first public pitching efforts of the year, he’s feeling cautiously optimistic—not yet up to par, but getting […]
With R.A. Dickey not yet in the game this season—but also stressing that he has not yet officially retired—one may speculate about where the knuckleballer will wind up if he does join sign this year. Over at PressBox, an Orioles fan says let it be the Baltimore Orioles. Signing Dickey would be one of “three […]
We’ve been wondering what’s going on with R.A. Dickey, having heard little about his future since the end of the 2017 baseball season except that the Atlanta Braves would not be keeping him on in 2018. Dickey had been hinting at the possibility of retirement in order to spend more time with his family, but […]
The beginning of a new year is as auspicious a time as any to take a fresh look your career, assets and potential and to ponder whether it makes sense to make a fundamental change. We like knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey’s blunt explanation, in a Q&A with Nubyjas Wilborn, of why he decided to specialize […]
Among the nominees for this year’s Rawlings Gold Glove Award were two Atlanta Braves: center fielder Ender Inciarte and pitcher R.A. Dickey, whose fate next season is still unknown (to us, anyway). Inciarte had won a Gold Glove in 2016 and Dickey had done so in 2013, a year after winning the Cy Young Award. […]
On Monday, the Atlanta Braves announced that they were declining their $8 million option on 42-year-old knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey. According to the Associated Press, “Dickey was the Braves’ most consistent starter this season, going 10-10 with a 4.26 ERA in 31 starts. He said at the end of the season he will meet with […]
Knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey passed up an opportunity to start in the Braves’ last game of the season, happy to end the season (and possibly his career) on round numbers. “My last outing was my 300th start and my 400th appearance, and so those are two nice round numbers to end on for me.” Dickey […]