First things first - a knuckleball has more to do with fingernails than knuckles. Just ask Rainiers’ starter R.A. Dickey. Although he’s only thrown this pitch for about three years full-time, he’s very good at describing how it works.

“I place the pointer and middle fingers behind the horseshoe (stitching) of the baseball and then mechanically I try to take the spin off it.” Its path is affected by the variation of how the air flows over the seams and the smooth surface of the ball. So while other pitches dip and curve extravagantly, the knuckleball flutters or dances, fooling hitters with its relative motionlessness.

Dickey said he has worked with both Tacoma catchers, Rob Johnson and Jeff Clemen, as they learn the art of catching the elusive knuckleball. “Both are real professionals. We worked together in spring training. They ask a lot of questions, and are getting better each start.” He added that he can throw the knuckleball when he wants to and trusts the catchers to keep it in front of them, so he doesn’t worry about runners coming home from third on passed balls.

Dickey spent ten years throwing conventional pitches before he started trying the knuckler. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers’ organization in 1996 and traveled through their Minor League system for four seasons before making his Major League debut in April 2001. His first appearance was one scoreless inning in relief. His next outings didn’t go so quite well. He appeared in just three more games with the Rangers that spring, allowing nine runs in 11 innings, before being sent back to the minors.

After spending five more seasons throwing conventional pitches with Triple A and the Rangers, Dickey talked with former knuckleballer Charlie Hough and decided to start working more seriously on the pitch. Orel Hershiser, then the pitching coach for the Rangers, bolstered Dickey’s decision. “Orel mentioned to me I could prolong my career with the knuckleball. I was recovering from a minor injury and my velocity had dropped.  I decided to take the risk.”

That was in 2006. Dickey is now in the third year of knuckleball-ism, using the pitch about 85 percent of the time.  So far he has had fair results this season—one win, two losses for the Rainiers with an ERA of 2.45 in 22 innings (both rank second on the team.) His win came at home April 9 over Fresno 5-1. In this game he pitched eight innings.

Carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning, he gave up only one single after there were two out. He said it wasn’t hard to keep his arm ready during a 39-minute rain delay. “I kept my body warm, but it was more of a mental battle to stay in the moment” until it was time to go out on the mound again.

After an impressive spring training with Seattle, that acquired him in a Rule V draft from Minnesota, Dickey was confident that he would be part of the Mariners’ bullpen at the beginning of the 2008 season. He felt his 2.25 ERA had earned him that, but last minute shuffling sent him back to Triple A. However he was in Tacoma only two weeks before he was called up to Seattle’s pen to be a spot starter after Eric Bedard, who went on the DL April  15. While in Seattle Dickey made one start for a loss and threw one inning in relief. He was optioned back to Tacoma April 22.

Dickey said he thinks he handled these transactions well.  “I controlled what I could (the pitching) in spring training,” he said. “When I got sent down I allowed myself to be sad and grieve, so I would not be angry and bitter. I have enough experience to understand the business end of this.”

Pitching in Cheney Stadium is not new to Dickey. During his time in the Minor Leagues he was on the mound here several times. He enjoys calling the stadium home now and said that the weather here is really beneficial to pitching the knuckleball. “Humidity and wind are good for it. They make mediocre knuckleballs better and don’t affect the good ones.”

Dickey spent last season with the Nashville Sounds, Milwaukee’s Triple A affiliate. His overall record of 13-6 (three wins were in relief) and an ERA of 3.72 earned him PCL Pitcher of the Year honors. Here in Tacoma he is now teamed up with outfielder Wladimir Balentien, the PCL’s 2007 Rookie of the Year.

Dickey, his wife and their three children make Nashville their off-season home. What he loves to do most in those few precious months away from baseball is be a dad. “I get to take the kids to school, go shopping, read to them, involve my wife and kids in what I do.” The family also enjoys spending time riding horses, playing soccer and ballet dancing. They will make frequent visits to Tacoma during the summer to cut down on what Dickey calls the “sacrifice of playing the game.”

He is also involved in Honoring Thy Father, an outreach program to underprivileged youth in Cuba and other Latin American countries. Dickey and Jonathan Johnson, a teammate of his on the 1996 Olympic baseball team, started this program over 10 years ago. They collect used sports equipment, medicine and food to distribute in the countries they visit. They also pass out Bibles and do some work for Habitat for Humanity.

Dickey doesn’t like to dwell on the future, preferring to concentrate on how he can best use the present moment to further his career and his life. When he looks back on the highlights of his career, two things stand out. One was a game he pitched for Texas vs. Boston on Sunday Night Baseball on May 2, 2004. His opponent was Tim Wakefield, one of the small fraternity of knuckleballers. Dickey, who had yet to convert full-time to the pitch, got the win, going eight and 2/3 innings.

The other was more of a low-light. Just after he was drafted by Texas in 1996 it was discovered that Dickey had no ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm, the one that is replaced in “Tommy John surgery.” When this defect came to light, the Rangers dropped their signing bonus by nearly $800,000.

“It had never made a difference in my career up to then,” he said. “I played baseball, basketball and quarter-backed the football team in high school and college. I had to spend the first part of my career proving I wasn’t damaged goods.” He jokes that he should have gotten more money, not less, since he would never have to have the surgery that so many pitchers require.

Dickey feels his biggest contribution to the Rainiers this season will be his consistency. “I want to be in the moment with every pitch, make quality starts, be prepared, and react to adversity (if necessary).” He also feels his 13 years of experience can have some influence in the clubhouse helping younger players get used to the life of a professional baseball player.

“This game has brought me to the end of myself at times,” he added. “I know a person can grow when you surrender to what happens. Trusting is difficult. I’ve spent a lifetime doing that, but I’m okay with it.”