On August 27th, 1990, 42-year old Texas Ranger knuckleballer Charlie Hough allowed 10 walks in five innings before being lifted in the 6th. California scored just three runs off of Hough. But they scored four off of the two Texas relievers to win the game, 7 – 3.

For many baseball fans like me, the knuckleball is the “holy of holies” and knuckleballers are the high priest of baseball. Imagine being able to throw a pitch that moves at the speed of a slow-pitch softball, that dances and darts its way to the plate, that requires a catcher to have an extra big mitt, and can make even the best Major League hitter look silly. And imagine being able to throw that pitch into your 40s.

One of the greatest mysteries of baseball economics is why teams don’t try to develop as many knuckleballers as they can. Throwing a knuckleball does not put the same wear and tear on a pitcher’s arm as other pitches do.

From a purely economic point of view, that means less blown-out elbows, less Tommy John surgeries, less 30-million dollar arms suddenly out of the lineup. It is also possible to imagine a rotation of knuckleballers pitching more than 250+ innings every year.

Having said all of that, the reality remains that being able to consistently throw a knuckleball is apparently a very difficult art to perfect. For pitchers like Charlie Hough who truly master the Zen of the knuckler, the sky is the limit.

Earlier this week, the San Diego Padres demoted pitcher Matt Waldron back to Triple-A. Waldron was the only knuckleballer currently in the Majors. He had had a few good outings but had been struggling with control lately.

For those of us who are fans of the mystical pitch, we can only wait and hope for another Charlie Hough.