With a few more days until the regular season starts, I’ll have a better idea of who is winding up where in the organization and I can get a little less reminiscent on this site. It’s not that I don’t like telling stories about players I’ve encountered over the past couple of years; I just want to be a little more current.

Anyway, enjoy this piece about one of the Cyclones’ most effective and unusual pitchers in their history.

I still remember when Jake Ruckle got “demoted” to Brooklyn in the summer of 2006. He was pitching well in St.Lucie, but the ‘Clones were struggling big time and needed reinforcements. In the span of a week, guys like Joe Holden, Jonathan Sanchez, John Malo and Grady Hinchman were all in Keyspan and in the lineup or on the field in one way or another. While Sanchez and Malo struggled and were eventually shipped out of there, Holden, Hinchman and Ruckle thrived with the latter looking phenomenal early on and through most of the season.

Anyone that hasn’t seen Ruckle pitch is missing out on a pretty cool experience. Kind of a combination of Satchel Page and Orlando Hernandez, Ruckle has such great deception that it’s virtually impossible to get a hint of what pitch he’s throwing until after it’s out of his hand. By then, it’s already too late.

I still remember asking him where he came up with his crazy delivery and thanks to some old-school archiving on my official site, I still have the quote:

“I have a scout that signed me with the New York Mets; his name is Dave Birecki,” said Ruckle, who the Mets drafted in the 41^st round of the 2004 draft. “When I was just coming out of high school, he asked me to try and create some deception or something and I asked him what I should do and he said, ‘Just try to flare your front arm up.’ I kind of exaggerated a little bit and I’ve always had kind of a high leg kick, so I started doing that and I liked it. It felt comfortable right from the get go. So far it’s worked for me and I’ll continue to use it. I like it, it’s different. You don’t see any other guy like that.”

I used to joke around in the press box during games that season [and still do time from time] and call pitches before they leave the pitchers hand. Let’s just say I would have been a good guy to have around on the ’51 Giants ha-ha. I would have fit right in with the telescopes and the sign stealers. Anyway, while I was able to pick up on several pitchers motions, Ruckle’s was so challenging to crack that when he would pitch, I was always behind on my recap and would have to buzz through it after he left the game, that’s how much fun he was to watch.

To go along with his unbelievable deception, the guy had pinpoint control as well, walking only eight batters in 81 innings for Brooklyn. The only problem was he didn’t throw very hard, having a fastball in the mid-80s that didn’t have much movement. As the season wore on, people started taking advantage of it and his ERA climbed to a still respectable 3.38 by the seasons end. Nonetheless, despite his bumpy patch over the last quarter of that season, he was still a fan favorite and someone the fans loved to watch.

By the way guys, I should have an interview with 2007 Cyclone Dillon Gee up by Friday, as we’re scheduled to have a phone interview sometime during the night.

Photos taken by Conroy Walker