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Knuckleball! (2012)

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Edgy MD May 24 2017 01:53 PM

RA and Tim are accomplished big-league starting pitchers. Only one problem—they can't get any respect! You see, these two lovable slackers didn't make their names in the big leagues with blazing speed or a devastating breaking pitch. They made it with the knuckleball—a gimmick pitch. Will they be able to convince the world that their pitch, their accomplishments, and their big league legacies are as viable as anybody's? [fimg=475:1niz8al0]http://www.impawards.com/2012/posters/knuckleball_xlg.jpg[/fimg:1niz8al0]

Vic Sage May 25 2017 08:59 AM Re: Knuckleball! (2012)

is it worth seeing?

Edgy MD May 25 2017 09:51 AM Re: Knuckleball! (2012)

As a Mets completionist, sure. Otherwise, not so much. The timeline is skewed, jumping from the past to the present randomly, and big chapters in the knuckleball's history get overlooked and played down. They don't talk to executives about why knucklers aren't taken seriously. How only bad teams give the Phil Niekros of the world a chance. They don't mention that watershed R.A. Dickey start in 2006 where he gave up six homers and got banished to the minors for two years. They don't mention Joe Niekro's suspension for the emory board. They talk to the catchers, but they don't go into how Mirabelli and Thole and others owe their careers to their ability to catch the knuckler. It's sort of slow with synthy new age music too. What I really missed is the whole damn adventurousness of it all. Charlie Hough's all star appearance where the ball was dancing all over the place and he had a catcher who'd never caught the knuckler. That was great drama! Absent from this narrative. The 2004 game five against the Yankees, Wakefield was heroic, but they never mention the real drama was Francona's dangerous decision to stick with Varitek behind the plate, hoping he could win the game with one swing, but leaving him to chase balls to the backstop while baserunners with potential season-ending runs were dancing around the bases. But Aaron Boone's homer off of him in 2003? They couldn't get enough of that shit. Most of the best Dickey stuff is told better in Dickey's autobiography. Best part is the round table of Dickey, Wakefield, Hough, and Niekro, but even that is achingly brief. Was Tom Candiotti busy or they only wanted a foursome so they could play golf? And Bouton only appears briefly once or twice. One of the best storytellers in baseball history and he threw the knuckleball, but he was woefully underutilized.