And Wakefield has done his part not only to save the knuckler from extinction but to keep it in the hands of a Red Sox prospect: Charlie Zink. Like Wakefield, who was 23 when he started learning the knuckler as a way to stay in professional baseball after he flopped as a hitter in the Pirates organization, Zink was 23 in spring training when the Sox persuaded him to abandon his traditional pitching style for the knuckleball.

A hard-throwing righthander, Zink was signed last year as an undrafted free agent on the recommendation of Luis Tiant, his former coach at Savannah College of Art and Design. He fared well in his pro debut, going 1-2 with a 1.41 ERA in 30 relief appearances last season at Single A Augusta and Sarasota.

But the Sox figured his best shot at making the majors was mastering the knuckleball. Enter Wakefield. Several times in spring training, Zink studied Wakefield's outings, then received private tutorials. "It's kind of neat to mentor somebody and try to keep the art going," Wakefield said.

Zink has put the lessons to good use. After going 7-9 with a 3.90 ERA in 24 outings for Sarasota and ranking second in the South Atlantic League with 136 innings, he was promoted to Double A Portland, where he surrendered two runs over 5 1/3 innings while striking out seven last Monday in his debut. He has held batters to a .241 average while trying to master his command of the knuckleball. He has walked 68 in 141 1/3 innings and struck out 101.

Even though Wakefield will be 39 when his current contract expires in 2005, he may still have a couple more years left since the most successful knuckleballers have remained effective in their 40s. He has encouraged Zink to follow in his footsteps.

"It's just a matter of doing it consistently enough," Wakefield said. "He just needs to get used to throwing it in a game and knowing how to get it over the plate and knowing how to make it move a little more. The more he does it, the better he's going to be."