Phil has been throwing the knuckler ever since he came up with the Braves in 1964, a rarity since the pitch is usually mastered in desperation by aging veterans.
Besides his pinpoint control, sweeping curve and baffling knuckler, Shantz has a sneaky fast ball that draws "ohs" and "ahs" from the fans whenever he lets it go.
Johnny Damon in The Canadian Press Early in the game, he was leaving the knuckler up a little bit, but when he keeps it down, he's very successful,Tigers leadoff hitter Johnny Damon said. "His knuckleball is almost as hard as his fastball, so he throws kind of a changeup...
Brian Boucher in Alameda Times-Star It was almost like a knuckler,said Boucher, who entered the game with a 10-1-2 record, "and I felt it may be going wide. But he got all of it and when it's kind of on edge like that it's hard to pick up."
Jim Leyland in Eagle Tribune Look at what the Red Sox throw out there every night,said Leyland. "They got (Josh) Beckett, who is light's out. They got (Curt) Schilling, who knows how to pitch. They got the knuckler (Tim Wakefield). They got the sinker guy (Julian...