A look at some of baseball’s most notable knuckleballers – The Boston Globe

After Tommy John surgery, Candiotti switched to the knuckleball full time after signing with the Cleveland Indians for the 1986 season.

R.A. Dickey

After an up-and-down start to his career, Dickey made the transition to the knuckleball in 2006. He had uneven results, bouncing between teams and back and forth between the minors and the majors until he landed with the Mets in 2010. Then, in 2012, he won 20 games and posted a career-best 2.74 ERA and became the only knuckleballer to win the Cy Young Award.

Jesse Haines

This knuckleballer actually gripped the ball with his knuckles, rather than his fingernails. He leaned heavily on it when the rest of his repertoire was rendered ineffective in the latter years of his career. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970.

Charlie Hough

The Dodgers used Hough out of the bullpen while the Rangers used him as a starter. He developed the knuckleball in 1970 and made his major-league debut that same year.

Dutch Leonard

Leonard was part of the knuckleball rotation the Senators had in the 1944 and 1945 seasons with four pitchers using it. He was a six-time All-Star over the course of his 20-year career.

Ted Lyons

This Hall of Famer holds the franchise record for most career wins after 21 seasons with the Chicago White Sox. Injuries between 1929-31 led Lyons to lean more on the knuckleball. He was named to one All-Star game and recorded three 20-win seasons.

Joe Niekro

Niekro began to put the knuckleball back into his rotation in the early 1970s, especially after spending time with Atlanta and his brother, Phil. The brothers combined to win 539 games. Joe was named to one All-Star game and led the NL in wins in 1979, the same season the Astros won the World Series.

Phil Niekro

Niekro won 121 games after he turned 40 years old. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997 after a 24-year career of making hitters miserable with his knuckleball. He had 318 wins, five All-Star nods, one no-hitter, twice led the NL in wins, and once led the NL in strikes.

Tim Wakefield

A one-time All-Star and two time World Series champ, this Red Sox fan favorite bounced back and forth between the starting rotation and the bullpen and collected 186 wins in a Red Sox uniform (200 in his career) along the way.

Hoyt Wilhelm

Wilhelm was a relief pitcher who was an eight-time All-Star and a one-time World Series champ, throwing primarily his knuckleball throughout this 21-year journeyman career. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985.

Steven Wright

One of two active knuckleballers today, Wright began relying on the knuckleball in 2011 while in the Cleveland Indians’ minor league ranks. He has 10 wins since making his major league debut three years ago.