Word: knuckler
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...couldn't throw some too." Hoyt Wilhelm's "junk" is the craziest knuckle ball in baseball today. It floats up to the plate, dances tantalizingly before batters' eyes like a butterfly, then breaks sharply and unpredictably. One night last week his knuckler broke all over the place, kept the bug-eyed New York Yankees flailing futilely. For Wilhelm it was a four-hit shutout, his seventh victory of the year without a loss, and brought his earned-run average down to 1.12-best in the major leagues. At 35, well-built (6 ft., 197 Ibs.) Hoyt Wilhelm...
...Giants gave up on Wilhelm after the 1956 season, when he temporarily lost the knack of getting men out in tight spots. His knuckler was missing the corners, and when he got behind the batters, Hoyt was forced to use a fast ball or slider, with disastrous results. "Hoyt began to worry and try different things, and the more he changed, the worse it got," says Wes Westrum, the Giants' catcher in those days...
Crimson coach Norm Shepard will send four-game winner Dave Brigham to the hill. Righthander Brigham's fast ball has been improving all season, and recently he has been toying with a curve and knuckler that had the Quaker batters swinging wildly in Friday's 8-7 triumph over Penn...
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. Old (89) Connie Mack, who has seen them all, calls him "the greatest fielding pitcher I ever saw." As a major leaguer, Shantz has allowed only two bunts to become hits. Says Manager Jimmy Dykes: "Anyone who bunts against Shantz is nuts. Bobby comes off that mound like a cat at a mousehole. When he's pitching we have five infielders." Dykes's one "complaint" about his little lefthander...