Tim Wakefield, no. 49

Birth Date: August 2, 1966 in Melbourne, FL

Height/Weight: 6'2", 204 lbs.

College: Florida Institute of Technology

Contract: 1 year at $4 million (through forever)

Tim Wakefield's Earned Run Average (4.76) would make him look like an average pitcher (the league average was 4.74) and I suppose, technically, it would make him an average pitcher. His Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched was 1.349. He gave up 191 hits and 22 home runs. He struck out 110 and walked 64. He also threw 10 wild pitches.

Defensively, he had 14 put outs and 22 assists. He made no errors and contributed to 3 double plays. He had a perfect Fielding Percentage (1.000) above the league average fielding percentage (.955). He had a Range Factor of 1.16, well above the league average range factor of .42.

The thing about a knuckle ball is that the attributes that make it difficult to hit, also make it difficult to control and to catch. Purposefully, the pitch has very little spin to it. Because it has so little spin, it is more likely to be acted on by outside forces, such as air currents. Think throwing a football ball. If you throw a football with a tight spiral, then it goes quickly where you aimed the throw. If you throw a football (as I would) with a loose spiral, then it doesn't travel as quickly, sort of wobbles through the air, and ends up where you aimed it if you're lucky. Knuckle ball pitchers throw a lot of balls, knuckle ball catchers have a lot of passed balls.

At this point, I think it's important that I apologize to Doug Mirabelli. I think that I have been unduly unkind to him. In the past I have shot my mouth off with such gems as: How hard can it be to catch a knuckle ball? Clearly, it is a difficult task and I know that now.