In the summer of 2012, knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey rose to fame by winning the Cy Young award. Inspired by his success, my sons began teaching themselves this elusive pitch in our backyard. The knuckleball, slow and spinless, has historically made unlikely players into major league stars, sometimes even Hall of Famers. Intrigued, I decided to support my kids’ ambitions. Over the next decade, I discovered that others, outside baseball enthusiasts, also harbored knuckleball dreams. This journey is captured in my new book, “School of Hard Knucks: My Three Sons and Baseball’s Wildest Pitch.”
The story mingles with that of two prominent business figures. One is Howard Rich, a real estate investor from Brooklyn who founded Americans for Limited Government. He had season tickets near the action at Mets games, which allowed him to closely observe Dickey’s pitching. After his wife Andrea questioned why only one major league pitcher used the knuckleball, Rich saw this as a market gap. He planned to address it by founding the International Knuckleball Academy (IKA). He recruited minor league pitchers Chris Nowlin and Zach Staniewicz to lead this venture.
Across the world in South Korea, Min Hur, a successful video game entrepreneur, maintained his childhood dream of playing professional baseball. Determined to turn this into reality, he built a personal training facility on his office building’s roof, complete with advanced pitch-tracking technology. Hur also sought guidance from legendary knuckleballer Phil Niekro in Atlanta and received advice from another knuckleball expert, Charlie Hough.
In 2013, Hur secured a well-connected agent and tried out for several major league teams, including the Rangers, Mariners, and Diamondbacks, but they passed on him. Eventually, the Rockland Boulders, an independent minor league team in New York, offered him a chance. Dubbed “Min-Sanity,” Hur drew crowds by busing in spectators from New York’s Korean communities and flying his family in from Seoul. Although his debut was challenging, the buzz was significant.
Howard Rich, intrigued by Hur’s story, proposed a partnership with IKA, but negotiations proved difficult due to cultural and language barriers. Despite dinner meetings, Rich and Hur couldn’t finalize a collaboration. Nonetheless, Rich continued with the IKA project, renting Dodgertown, a former Los Angeles Dodgers’ training site. However, Staniewicz expressed concerns about the limited interest in the unique pitch.
Rich developed a financing plan where players who succeeded in major leagues would give a small portion of their earnings to the academy. Unfortunately, the International Knuckleball Academy closed before it welcomed any participants.
Persisting in his baseball dream, Min Hur continues his journey. I met him in a Manhattan batting cage; he had recently returned from playing with the Melbourne Aces in Australia. Now 50, an age considered prime for a knuckleballer, Hur remains optimistic.
“I’m better than ever,” he confidently shared, determined to keep the dream alive.