Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Keep This In Mind

R.A. Dickey gets the start tonight and that means the catcher has the privilege of dealing with his knuckleball. Tonight, that catcher is Mike Nickeas.

Two starts ago Mike did fine catching the knuckleball. I don't even think there were any passed balls. However, in his last start the knuckleball was dancing and Mike had to chase a few pitches. It's a knuckleball, so there is no way to know how tonight will go. Whether there are no passed balls or there are eight, I guarantee it won't be an easy game.

Catching a knuckleball has never been easy and it never will be easy. There's a reason the Red Sox got Doug Mirabelli back about two seconds after they let him go. There's also a reason Josh Thole ended up screwing up the entire way he caught last season.

There simply is not a word crazy enough to describe that pitch. I know I would never want to catch it. So if there are a couple of passed balls tonight realize who is pitching.

Let's Go Mets!

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