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. A pitcher who throws knuckleballs is known as a knuckleballer.
Philip Henry Niekro,nicknamed "Knucksie",was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves,Cleveland Indians,New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. Niekro is generally regarded as the greatest knuckleball pitcher of all time.
USA Baseball is the national governing body for baseball in the United States,and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization is responsible for the selection of the United States national team for various international competition,including the senior professional team,the collegiate national team,the various youth national teams,and the women's national team.
Charles Oliver Hough is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) knuckleball pitcher and coach who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers,Texas Rangers,Chicago White Sox,and Florida Marlins from 1970 to 1994.
Lisa Maria Fernandez is an American former softball player and current associate head coach at UCLA. She played college softball at UCLA as a pitcher and third baseman,and is a three-time medal winning Olympian with Team USA.
The United States national baseball team,also known as Team USA represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 2nd in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United States has won many international tournaments,many of which are now discontinued. Most notably the team won the Olympic baseball tournament in 2000,and the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2017.
Monica Cecilia Abbott is a retired American professional softball player. Abbott was an All-American pitcher for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in college before starting a professional career in the NPF and in the Japan Softball League. In international competition,she has played for Team USA from 2005 including the national softball team winning a silver medal at the 2008 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Abbott is the NCAA Division I leader in wins,strikeouts,shutouts and innings.
The WBSC Americas,formerly known as Pan American Baseball Confederation,is the governing body of baseball and softball within the Americas.
Eri Yoshida is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Japan Islanders of the Empire Professional Baseball League. She plays as a sidearm knuckleball pitcher. In 2008,at the age of 16,she became the first woman drafted by a Japanese men's professional baseball team.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) is the world governing body for the sports of baseball,softball,and Baseball5. It was established in 2013 by the merger of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and International Softball Federation (ISF). Under the WBSC's organizational structure,the IBAF and ISF now serve as the confederation's baseball and softball divisions,respectively. Each division is governed by an executive committee,while the WBSC is governed by an executive board.
Dallas Jade Escobedo is a Mexican-American,former collegiate All-American,Olympian,professional softball pitcher and coach. She played college softball for Arizona State in the from 2011 to 2014,where she led them to the 2011 Women's College World Series title and ranks in several pitching categories for both institutions. She is currently the pitching coach at Cal State Fullerton.
Veronica Alvarez is an American baseball catcher. She is a member of the United States women's national baseball team which won a gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games.
The 2016 Women's Baseball World Cup was the 7th edition of the WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup,the biennial international women's baseball world championship tournament. The competition was held in Gijang,South Korea from September 3 to September 11,2016.
Softball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in its first Olympic appearance since 2008. The tournament consisted of six teams. Baseball/softball was one of five optional sports added to the program of the 2020 Summer Olympics. The first six opening round games were played at Fukushima Azuma Baseball Stadium in an effort to highlight Fukushima's recovery from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster,while the remaining games were played at Yokohama Stadium. Softball will not return in 2024.
The 2018 Women's Softball World Championship was an international softball competition held in Chiba,Japan,from 2 August to 12 August. It was the 16th edition of the tournament,and the third edition to be sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Previous editions were sanctioned by the International Softball Federation,which governed the sport until its 2013 merger with the International Baseball Federation to create the WBSC. As the winners,the United States earned the right to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics. It was the last world title awarded under the championship format before the WBSC implemented the new world cup 4 year cycle.
Softball competitions at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima,Peru are scheduled to be held from July 25 to August 10. The venue for the competition is the softball stadium located at the Villa María del Triunfo cluster. A total of six men's and six women's teams competed in each tournament. This means a total of 180 athletes are scheduled to compete.
Rachel Lauren Garcia is an American former softball pitcher. She most recently served as the pitching coach for UC San Diego. She played college softball for the UCLA Bruins and led the Bruins to the 2019 Women's College World Series championship,where she was named the Most Outstanding Player.
Xeana Kamalani Dung,also known as "Kama Dung",is an American,right-handed softball pitcher,model,actress,and philanthropist from Waianae,Hawaii. She is a gold medalist and is known as the first professional softball pitcher from Hawaii. Dung is currently a professional softball player who pitches on the Puerto Rican national softball team and in the Athletes Unlimited Softball league. She has competed in a number of international tournaments and has gained a large following as an international and collegiate athlete. Dung was the former starting pitcher for the Fresno State Bulldogs and California Golden Bears.
Aleshia Ines Ocasio is a professional American softball player. She played college softball at Florida. Ocasio most recently played in the Athletes Unlimited Softball,where she won the 2021 championship as the top individual points leader. She has been a member of the Puerto Rico women's national softball team since 2015.
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