Getting sticky with it. (Insider: baseball).

Facing a pitcher who throws a dancing knuckleball is hard. Facing that pitch in hot, humid weather is harder still. Unfortunately for hitters, the two often are related.

Knuckleballs tend to work better in hot, sticky situations because the air is thicker and therefore offers more resistance, which causes the pitch to butterfly more. True, a properly thrown knuckleball will dance in dry conditions. But it will get downright jiggy when the air is humid.

Tigers knuckleballer Steve ...