Zink refused to knuckle under

By Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff  |  August 18, 2006

What are the chances of two knuckleballers being in a starting rotation? The answer is remote, but if it's not in Boston, there might be a place for Charlie Zink somewhere else in the big leagues.

The Pawtucket righthander has finally shown consistency with his knuckleball, and if you want to know how difficult that is, read about Jose Canseco's minor league debut as a knuckleballer for the Long Beach Armada. He hit four batters, had a wild pitch, and walked five in 4 1/3 innings of an 8-2 loss to the Reno Silver Fox Wednesday.

Zink has become so consistent he might be on the Red Sox' radar for a promotion.

``I'm hoping that I'm forcing the issue," said Zink, 7-2 with a 3.87 ERA and 4-1 in his last six starts with a 3.16 ERA. ``At least by pitching better I'm making them look at me. At least think about it and that's all I can ask right now."

Zink, who turns 27 Aug. 26, became a knuckleballer in 2002, but his career appeared to be in trouble when he started 0-7 at Double A Portland in 2004. Then he got some advice from someone in the organization who told him a knuckleball pitcher is just like a conventional pitcher -- you have to be in shape.

``I guess I started to believe the conventional wisdom that, `Oh, you're a knuckleballer and you don't have to be in shape.' What I found was in order to repeat successful mechanics, you have to be in shape. You get tired just like any other pitcher. I got myself in shape and came in as in shape as I've ever been and it's made quite a difference in my career. There was a time I was as down as you could be. I had no confidence when I stepped onto the mound. Now I take the ball and I feel I can pitch and control it."

The Chicago White Sox had no problems using knuckleballers. Hoyt Wilhelm and Eddie Fisher were together in the mid-1960s. Wilhelm was teamed with Wilbur Wood in 1967, and in 1972 Wood and Fisher were Chicago's knuckleballers. The Braves used Phil and Joe Niekro in 1973 and '74.

The Sox have a knuckleball catcher in Doug Mirabelli. Zink said Ken Huckaby and Corky Miller have done a good job catching him, which Zink feels is essential in a knuckleballer's success. ``You have to be able to relax back there and let the ball get to the mitt rather than trying to grab at it."

Zink, who got inspired to throw a knuckleball by watching Tim Wakefield on television while he was with the Pirates, said his insertion into Pawtucket's starting rotation has made all the difference. In eight relief appearances at Pawtucket, he was 1-0 with a 5.96 ERA, allowing 17 earned runs in 25 2/3 innings.

``I need about 20-25 minutes of throwing to get ready," Zink said. ``If I'm coming out of the pen, I just don't have enough time to get ready and come into a situation with runners at second and third and expect me to control it."

Sound advice isn't easy to come by for a knuckleballer, but Zink has been able to find refuge with a couple of organizational pitching coaches -- Glenn ``Goose" Gregson of the Gulf Coast League and PawSox pitching coach Mike Griffin. ``Goose knows what I look like when I'm going well and I can definitely go to him and he can see it. Mike has been outstanding with me as far as letting me know if I'm a little bit off in my delivery. In the end, it's still pitching and you need proper mechanics to be able to throw the pitch well."

Zink has talked to Wakefield in spring training but doesn't want to bother him during the season.

Much like Wakefield, Zink will throw a fastball (he also throws a cut fastball) to slip one past a hitter on the first pitch, but he says he's ``90 percent" knuckleballs and he throws them at a painfully slow 65 miles per hour.

The Red Sox received a scare last week when shortstop Jason Place, the team's top pick in the June draft, was hit on the earflap with a pitch during a Gulf Coast League game. ``He went to the hospital to get checked out, was cleared, and is fine," said general manager Theo Epstein. ``We have a policy at the lower levels that when a player gets hit in the head, we shut him down for a week and ease him back into playing. Place may get back into action by the GCL playoffs." . . . Portland's Jacoby Ellsbury, who hit .400 (10 for 25) with 7 runs, a double, 2 triples, and his first Double A homer, was named Eastern League player of the week for Aug. 7-13. Ellsbury, who joined the Sea Dogs from Single A Wilmington July 13, also drove in three runs and stole a base . . . Ryan Kalish, the Red Sox' ninth-round pick out of Red Bank Catholic High in New Jersey, has Boston roots. Kalish's father, Steve, is originally from Brookline and went to Brookline High, where he played baseball. His mother, Eileen, is from Dorchester . . . Here is why righthander Clay Buchholz is untouchable. He's 5-0 with a 1.47 ERA in his last six starts, throwing 93 to 94 m.p.h. with excellent movement and location, according to one scout who has seen him pitch twice. Buchholz, Boston's first-round pick last season, is 9-4 with 2.62 ERA with 117 strikeouts in 103 innings for Single A Greenville . . . Down in the very hot and humid Gulf Coast League, Taiwanese infielder Chih-Hsien Chiang is hitting .324 this month. On Monday vs. the Baby Twins, he fell a homer short of the cycle, going 4 for 5 with two doubles and a triple . . . Joshua Papelbon has three saves in his last four appearances for Single A Lowell. He has nine saves and a 1.83 ERA (four earned runs in 19 2/3 innings) in 17 games . . . At least the Red Sox have lefthanded relievers in their farm system. Yulkin German, 22, has put together eight scoreless innings and is 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA in 40 1/3 innings for Lowell, and Tim Cox is on a seven-inning scoreless streak. He has 73 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings for Greenville. Cox, 20, has appeared in 29 games with a 2.64 ERA . . . Pawtucket center fielder David Murphy hit .182 over a 21-game stretch recently and his name has popped up in trade rumors with Florida (for lefthander Taylor Tankersley). Tankersley is 1-1 with a 2.82 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.