In his quarter of a century as a professional coach, Gary Tuck has developed a reputation as the foremost catching instructor in baseball. If he hasn’t seen a catching drill or a piece of catching equipment, it likely doesn’t exist.

And so when the Red Sox bullpen coach and catching instructor says that the machine that spits knuckleballs in a batting cage behind the Red Sox clubhouse is the only one that he’s ever seen, it bears notice. The origins of the unusual piece of equipment are slightly murky — one Sox employee thought that it had been rigged by Tuck, while Tuck said that the machine was around when he joined the club in 2007.

Regardless of its creation, the practical value of the machine is noteworthy. Earlier this spring, Sox manager Terry Francona described the unique challenge posed by trying to catch Tim Wakefield, a man whose knuckleball moves unlike any other in professional baseball.

“Wakefield’s a different animal,” said Francona. “He’s ruined guys’ careers. The ball is not a normal knuckleball. That’s why he’s 42 years old and still pitching in the major leagues. It affects our decision-making. It has in the past. It’s something you always have to be aware of, because there’s a lot of guys who just can’t catch it. … You watch someone on another team who seems to be handling a knuckleball, then you put them back there with Wake and it goes right by him.”

Yet the machine, perhaps more than anyone else who throws the pitch for a living (with no disrespect meant to the likes of Sox prospect Charlie Zink), may offer the closest facsimile to the movement of Wakefield’s pitches. On Wednesday morning, George Kottaras (the front-runner for the job of Sox backup catcher) and Dusty Brown squatted in the cage as a modified pitching machine released balls without any spin.

The balls offered a Wakefield-esque lesson in physics, as they sailed in all directions in often-uncatchable fashion. Brown and Kottaras did their best to stay back, not to lunge at balls that were willing to dart in all directions without the control of Boston’s resident knuckleball specialist.

The task was greeted with a mix of amusement and frustration, the occasional profanity being barked by a pitch that proved elusive. In a best-of-five drill between Kottaras and Brown, each catcher corraled three balls.

“It’s really good. It’s coming in a little harder (than Wakefield’s pitches), but it throws a few where I’ve seen action kind of like Wakefield’s,” said Kottaras.”It’s a good tool to work on in between days. I had never seen one of those before (coming to the Sox). It’s a good drill, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Kottaras received raves for his most recent pairing with Wakefield. On Tuesday in Tampa Bay, he was virtually flawless during the pitcher’s 5.1 innings of shutout ball. Former major-league catcher and manager Buck Martinez stopped in the Red Sox broadcast booth with Jon Rish and Joe Castiglione for a couple of innings, and noted that the ability of Kottaras to catch cleanly each Wakefield offering – on a night when his pitches were remarkably active – was exceptional and impactful. The fact that Kottaras did not miss, even with the bases empty, allowed the pitcher to stay in a great rhythm on the mound that lent itself to effectiveness: throw, catch, return, throw…

Most of the credit, of course, belonged to Wakefield and Kottaras, the pitcher for delivering nasty knucklers, the catcher for squeezing them. But it seems fair to say that a unique piece of equipment also played a small part in a pairing that showed quite a bit of promise.

“It works really well,” said Kottaras. “You’ve got to do something to prepare yourself, and (the machine) is a big help.”

4 Comments for “The knuckleball machine”

1. Joe Says:
   March 27th, 2009 at 7:53 am

   Yea But can Kottaras throw and hit ?

2. Art Says:
   March 30th, 2009 at 6:32 pm

   Thanks for the memories Wake,but it’s time to go!!!

3. Paul Says:
   April 3rd, 2009 at 12:20 am

   I love to hear what makes professional icons the winners that they are. Wake is clearly unique. Winning in baseball is not different that winning at street sweeping or sales. Winning attitudes, characteristics and ethos is generally the same. Way to Go Wake.

   -peace

4. Seattle Pest Control Says:
   July 28th, 2010 at 7:45 pm

   Outstanding post. Keep writing. I will be back for a lot more.

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