I honestly hope Wakefield doesn't hang it up after this year. I like him as a person and more, even with his annual injury problems, he's probably the most cost effective player on the roster (outside of arbitration and pre-arbitration players). If he continues to pitch, I'm sure that trend will continue. A little uncertainty is acceptable with what he brings to the table.


Raftsox:

It will be a sad day when Wakefield is no longer pitching. Possibly the death knell of the knuckleball (both of you Charlie Zink's shut up; he's not a major league caliber knuckleballer.

I was looking for the list of current major league knuckleballers (because i knew there were others) and i found this quote (on the knuckleball wikipedia page):

"Like some cult religion that barely survives, there has always been at least one but rarely more than five or six devotees throwing the knuckleball in the big leagues... Not only can't pitchers control it, hitters can't hit it, catchers can't catch it, coaches can't coach it, and most pitchers can't learn it. The perfect pitch." ― Ron Luciano, former AL umpire

Tim Wakefield may be the most successful knuckle baller in the major leagues at the moment, but i strongly doubt this will be the end of the line for knuckleballers. Also from the wikipedia page, here's the list of other knucklers:

"As of 2008^[update], Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox, R.A. Dickey of the Minnesota Twins, Josh Banks of the San Diego Padres, and Charlie Haeger of the Los Angeles Dodgers are the only knucklers in the big leagues, though minor leaguer Charlie Zink of the Pawtucket Red Sox also throws the knuckleball."

While you may think Charlie Zink is not a major league caliber pitcher at the moment, realistically he has all the time in the world to refine the pitch. And no, I'm not about to change my username to CharlieZink52030909. My only point is that he doesn't share the same development window as other pitchers, because he could theoretically be an effective pitcher for a much longer period of time and with less of his performance based on youthful athleticism.

FenwayTheHardWay wrote:

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Zink is old to be in the minors, even with the knuckleball. Charlie Haeger is the future of the knuckleball, if in fact there is one.

I absolutely agree with both points. I was just stating that his age and lack of major league success aren't quite as damning as it would be for a non-knuckleball pitcher.