Dec 08 2010 02:19 PM
Re: Dickey Chat
He's candid, but not without decorum, about the clubhouse and Jerry and any number of behind-the-scenes topics:
| I think Terry and I are going to start by having really open lines of communication, so he'll know what to expect out of me and I'll know what to expect out of him as a manager. With Jerry, it was such a learn-about-each-other-on-the-fly, that it was nobody's fault, just kind of the way it was. He didn't really know me or trust what I could do, because he didn't have a lot of exposure to me. Terry's been in the organization. He's seen me pitch quite a few times. He followed me last year and he knows what I'm capable of doing. So I think there's going to be a real easy transition there. Throwing 130 pitches in a game is not a big deal to me, if I'm going good and keeping the hitters at bay. If I'm getting blown up--that's another thing--you've got to get me out of there, like anybody else. I think that it's going to be a nice transition. He knows I want the ball, I want to throw and I want to finish what I start. |
And then there's the koan-like stuff like this:
| And when you throw a good knuckleball, it's unlike any other pitch that you ever throw in that you know immediately that nobody's going to hit it. Like you throw and you're like, "There's no chance that this is going to get hit." And it's different than any other pitch you throw. So, that's a neat sensation. It's a sensation that I really enjoy trying to duplicate over and over and over again. |
And this, on mound presence for knucklers:
| It's more important now than it ever has been for me. Phil Niekro shared with me a thing that I've really kept close to my heart, as far as pitching goes, and that's: I throw a bad knuckleball, or I throw a great knuckleball, or I throw one that goes behind the hitter's head, or throw one that he swings and misses and hits him, or whatever I do, always act like I meant to do it. Because the hitter doesn't know the difference, when you throw a knuckleball. That's what I've always tried to do. From one pitch to the next, it's always been because that's what I wanted to do to you. I've kind of taken that and tried to grow it and really feel like that's an important thing. You never want to give the hitter any inclination that you're not confident in what you're doing, or that you don't have it that day, or that you had no idea where it's going. Thusly, mound presence is a huge deal as a knuckleballer. |
I love the idea of him sitting at a poker table with this:
