 After his retirement as a player , Wilhelm managed two minor league teams in the Atlanta Braves system for single seasons . He led the 1973 Greenwood Braves of the Western Carolinas League to a 61 – 66 record , then had a 33 – 33 record with the 1975 <unk> Braves of the Appalachian League . He also worked as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Yankees for 22 years . As a coach , Wilhelm said that he did not teach pitchers the knuckleball , believing that people had to be born with a <unk> for throwing it . He sometimes worked individually with major league players who wanted to improve their <unk> , including Joe <unk> . The Yankees gave Wilhelm permission to work with Mickey <unk> in 1979 even though <unk> pitched for the San Diego Padres . 
