CHAPTER 9
A NEW PITCH
Malcolm stayed up way too late reading, watching, and studying how to throw the knuckleball. He discovered that there were several different grips pitchers used to throw it. He also learned about the science involved in the knuckleball. The air flowing around the seams of the baseball caused it to dip or flutter as it flew toward the plate.
Malcolm spent the rest of the night holding a baseball, trying to find a comfortable grip. He watched a video of Jim Waveland teaching people how to throw the knuckler like he did.
Malcolm finally settled on a basic grip: He held the ball with his thumb tucked under the bottom of the ball and his index and middle fingers bent above the seams on the ball’s backside.
Could this really work? Malcolm wondered as he drifted off to sleep, ball in hand.
The next day, Malcolm had Sanjay and Matt come over early. They took a bucket of balls to the ballfield to work on getting the knuckleball moving correctly.
Malcolm stepped onto the mound, while Sanjay got behind the plate. Matt dug into the batter’s box. He was going to act as the stand-in hitter to help Malcolm see how the pitch looked to batters.
“Sanjay, this is going to be a little difficult for you to catch at first,” Malcolm said. “Be ready to have the ball bounce off you.”
“Okay,” Sanjay said. “I also brought my brother’s catcher’s mitt. I read that sometimes catchers use a different glove when working with a knuckleball pitcher.”
“And Matt, this is going to help you be more patient,” Malcolm said. “Pretend like this is the first pitch of the at bat. Don’t swing!”
Malcolm reared back and fired a fastball high and outside. Matt swung and missed.
“Hey!” Malcolm shouted. “Remember the ‘be patient’ plan. That was a test.”
“I know, I know,” Matt said. “I was just ready to hit!”
Now Malcolm was going to try the knuckleball. He got the grip right and flicked the ball toward the plate. But nothing happened. It was a straight, slow pitch right into Sanjay’s glove. Malcolm threw a few more. The knuckler wasn’t dipping.
On pitch seven, Malcolm adjusted his fingers a little bit and let it fly. Matt took a big swing and missed.
“Whoa!” Matt shouted as his knees buckled. “That was amazing! The ball moved all over the place. I didn’t know where it was going!”
Malcolm kept throwing the knuckleball. Some of them danced in the air and dropped to the ground as Sanjay tried his best to catch them. Some of Malcolm’s pitches came out flat, and Matt hit those ones hard.
When the bucket was finished, Malcolm guessed that about half his knuckleballs worked the way he wanted.
“What did you guys think?” Malcolm wondered as they collected the balls.
“I thought it was great,” Matt said. “As a hitter, I couldn’t track where the ball was going. It was hard to time it up.”
“I think if we mix these in with your regular pitches, we can keep the Goliaths guessing,” Sanjay added.
Malcolm wasn’t so sure. It was a big deal to try a new pitch, especially in such a huge game. What if this experiment failed?