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Knuckleball!
''Knuckleball!'' is a 2012 documentary film that follows the 2011 seasons of Tim Wakefield and R. A. Dickey, Major League Baseball's only knuckleball pitchers that year. It was released in theaters on September 20, 2012 and on DVD on April 2, 2013. Wakefield won his 200th game in 2011 and Dickey won the 2012 Cy Young Award. Background Stern and Sundberg's previous documentary was '' Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work''. They had also previously directed the documentary ''The Devil Came on Horseback'' about the War in Darfur. Plot The film sets up the 2011 season by showing how the knuckleball saved both pitchers from obscurity. Dickey moved his family 37 times before landing with the New York Mets. The film presents Wakefield's chase of his 200th win as a member of the 2011 Red Sox and Dickey's make-it-or-break-it season with the 2011 Mets. It demonstrates the fraternal nature of knuckleball pitchers who trade tips of the trade via various meetings with the likes of Phil Niekro and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ricki Stern
''Ricki Stern'' is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, most known for her documentarian work, and author. She works alongside Anne Sundberg. She is most known for ''The Trials of Darryl Hunt'' (2006), ''The Devil Came on Horseback'' (2007), '' The End of America'' (2007), '' Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work'' (2010), ''Surviving Jeffrey Epstein'' (2020), and '' Surviving Death'' (2021). Career Stern made her directorial debut with ''Neglect Not the Children'', narrated by Morgan Freeman for PBS. In 1999, Stern directed ''In My Corner'', a documentary following a boxing gym in the Bronx. In 2006, Stern co-directed and served as a producer on ''The Trials of Darryl Hunt'', which follows the case of wrongly convicted Darryl Hunt, the film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2006, and was released in June 2007. Stern next directed ''The Devil Came on Horseback'', which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007, and p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Sundberg
''Anne Sundberg'' is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer, most known for her documentarian work. She works alongside Ricki Stern. She is most known for ''The Trials of Darryl Hunt'' (2006), ''The Devil Came on Horseback'' (2007), '' The End of America'' (2007), '' Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work'' (2010), and ''Surviving Jeffrey Epstein'' (2020). Career In 2000, Sundberg produced '' Tully'' directed by Hilary Birmingham. Sundberg was nominated for a Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature at the 18th Independent Spirit Awards. In 2006, Sundberg co-directed and served as a producer on ''The Trials of Darryl Hunt'', which follows the case of wrongly convicted Darryl Hunt, the film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2006, and was released in June 2007. Sundberg next directed ''The Devil Came on Horseback'', which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007, and premiered on National Geographic in April 2008. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim Wakefield
Timothy Stephen Wakefield (born August 2, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Wakefield began his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but is most remembered for his 17-year tenure with the Boston Red Sox, from 1995 until his retirement in 2012 as the longest-serving player on the team. When he retired, Wakefield was the oldest active player in the major leagues. Wakefield won his 200th career game on September 13, 2011, against the Toronto Blue Jays, and he ranks third in career wins in Red Sox franchise history (186), behind Cy Young and Roger Clemens. He is second in all-time wins at Fenway Park with 97, behind Clemens's 100, and is the all-time leader in innings pitched by a Red Sox pitcher, with 3,006, having surpassed Clemens's total of 2,777 on June 8, 2010. Wakefield was nominated eight times for the Roberto Clemente Award, winning it in 2010. Early life Wakefield was born in Melbourne, Florida, on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knuckleball
A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This change adds a deflecting force to the baseball, making it difficult for batters to hit but also difficult for pitchers to control and catchers to catch; umpires are challenged as well, as the ball's irregular motion through the air makes it harder to call balls and strikes.Hoffman, Benjamin"Not So Easy on the Eyes"''New York Times'' (June 23, 2012) A pitcher who throws knuckleballs is known as a knuckleballer. Origins The origins of the knuckleball are unclear. Toad Ramsey of the Louisville Colonels in the old American Association—his pitch likely resembled the knuckle curve—and Eddie Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox, who in 1908 was nicknamed "Knuckles", are two possible creators of the pitch. Other accounts attribute the pitch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doug Mirabelli
Douglas Anthony Mirabelli (born October 18, 1970) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the San Francisco Giants (1996–2000), Texas Rangers (2001), Boston Red Sox (2001–2005), and San Diego Padres (2006) before returning to the Red Sox (2006–2007) to end his 11-year career. He batted and threw right-handed. Mirabelli was a career .231 hitter with 58 home runs and 206 runs batted in in 566 games. While with the Red Sox, he was well-known as the personal catcher for knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. He was part of the Red Sox' World Series championship teams in 2004 and 2007. High school and college After leading Valley High School in his hometown of Las Vegas to two state baseball titles, Mirabelli was originally selected by the Detroit Tigers in the sixth Round (159th overall) of the 1989 Major League Baseball amateur draft, but did not sign. Instead, Mirabelli chose to attend Wichita State University. In 1990, he played collegiate summer baseball in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jason Varitek
Jason Andrew Varitek (; born April 11, 1972), nicknamed Tek, is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the game planning coordinator, a uniformed coaching position, for the Boston Red Sox. After being traded as a minor league prospect by the Seattle Mariners, Varitek played his entire 15-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Red Sox. A three-time All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner at catcher, as well as a Silver Slugger Award winner, Varitek was part of both the 2004 World Series and 2007 World Series Championship teams, and was viewed widely as one of the team's leaders. In December 2004 he was named the captain of the Red Sox, only their fourth captain since 1923. He was a switch-hitter. Varitek is one of only three players, along with pitcher Ed Vosberg and outfielder Michael Conforto, to have played in the Little League World Series, College World Series, and Major League World Series. He additionally participated in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Leyland
James Richard Leyland (born December 15, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He serves as a special assistant to the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Leyland led the Florida Marlins to the 1997 World Series championship over the Cleveland Indians, and previously won three straight division titles ( 1990, 1991, and 1992) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is one of eleven managers to lead three different teams to the postseason. With the Tigers' victory in the 2006 American League Championship Series, Leyland became the seventh manager in history to win pennants in both the National and American Leagues. He is a three-time Manager of the Year Award winner, twice in the National League (1990 and 1992), and once in the American League (2006). Early career Jim Leyland graduated from Perrysburg High School in 1962. Leyland began his baseball career with the Tigers when they signed him as a catcher on September 21, 1963. He spen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Francona
Terrence Jon Francona (born April 22, 1959), nicknamed "Tito", is an American baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox for eight seasons, whom he led to two World Series titles and ended the franchise's 86-year championship drought. After a four-year stint as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Francona was hired to manage the Red Sox in 2004 and led the team to their first championship since 1918. He won another World Series with Boston in 2007 and continued to manage the team until the end of the 2011 season. In 2013, Francona became Cleveland's manager and led them to an American League pennant in 2016. He also led Cleveland to a 22-game win streak during the 2017 season, the longest in American League history and the second-longest in MLB history. Early life Francona was born on April 22, 1959, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, to Tito Francona (1933� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseball officer from 2011 to 2020. A former player, manager and television color commentator, Torre ranks fifth all-time in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager. With 2,342 hits during his playing career, Torre is the only major leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager. From 1996 to 2007, he was the manager of the New York Yankees and guided the team to six pennants and four World Series championships. Torre's lengthy and distinguished career in MLB began as a player in 1960 with the Milwaukee Braves, as a catcher, first baseman and third baseman. He also played for the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets until becoming a manager in 1977, when he briefly served as the Mets' player-manager. His manag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Niekro
Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 318 career victories are the most by a knuckleballer and rank 16th on MLB's all-time wins list. He won the National League Gold Glove Award five times, was selected to five All-Star teams, and led the league in victories twice and earned run average once. He was a key contributor to the Braves winning their only two division titles before 1991. Niekro was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. Niekro and his younger brother Joe amassed 539 wins between them, the most combined wins by brothers in baseball history. Phil's 121 career victories after the age of 40 is a major league record. His longevity is attributed to his knuckleball, which is a difficult pitch to master but is easy on the arm and often baffles hitters due to its unpredictable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Collins
Terry Lee Collins (born May 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball manager. He managed the Houston Astros, the Anaheim Angels and New York Mets in Major League Baseball and the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball. He currently serves as a baseball analyst for Mets programming on SNY. A former Minor League Baseball shortstop, Collins managed the Albuquerque Dukes of the Pacific Coast League and the Buffalo Bisons of the International League at the minor league level, and the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods League at the summer collegiate league level. In 1994, he made his MLB managerial debut with the Houston Astros. He also managed the Anaheim Angels for three years. Known as a "feisty and intense manager", Collins had his longest tenure as manager of the New York Mets (his first major league job in a decade), where he led them to their first playoff appearance in nine years in 2015, which resulted in a trip to the 2015 World Series, their first pennan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Candiotti
Thomas Caesar Candiotti (born August 31, 1957) is an American former knuckleball pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers. As of the 2005 season, Candiotti is a television and radio analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Early life Candiotti is a graduate of Queen of All Saints Catholic School in Concord, California, Concord High School, and an alumnus of Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California. Candiotti pitched for the Saint Mary's baseball team for four years. He later said that he might not have been able to play college baseball at a larger school. Baseball career Candiotti, nicknamed "The Candy Man" or simply "Candy", was not drafted by any major-league team. He got a shot when he traveled to Victoria, British Columbia, for a tryout with the independent Victoria Mussels of the Northwest League in 1979. Candiotti won five games that year for a Vict ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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