FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – The only predictable thing about Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball may have been that Doug Mirabelli was behind home plate to catch it.

Now the Boston Red Sox don’t even have that.

Mirabelli was traded to San Diego and now three offseason additions are competing for the job – or the burden – of trying to keep Wakefield’s sinking, rising and frustratingly fluttering pitch from skipping to the backstop.

“It will be a huge challenge,” manager Terry Francona said.

Jason Varitek caught most of Boston’s games the last three years, but got a break every fifth game when Wakefield pitched. Mirabelli caught 92 of Wakefield’s 96 starts in that stretch and the knuckleballer was 0-4 in the other four.

But the Red Sox traded Mirabelli on Dec. 7 for Mark Loretta, who will start at second base, and began adding catchers – free agents Ken Huckaby from Toronto and John Flaherty from the New York Yankees, then Josh Bard in a trade that also brought starting center fielder Coco Crisp from Cleveland. With Varitek part of the U.S. team in the World Baseball Classic, scheduled from March 3 to 20, all three should get extra chances to compete for one roster spot.

The ability to catch the knuckleball “does play a role,” Bard said, “but I don’t think it strictly depends on that. But if you can’t catch it, that might eliminate you from the competition.”

All three have had very limited experience catching the knuckler, especially one of Wakefield’s quality, since few pitchers throw it anymore. The best knuckleball baffles hitters with its movement but also is the toughest to catch.

Wakefield, entering his 12th season with Boston, has confidence in all three, and his pitching isn’t really affected by who is on the receiving end.

“They’re very good defensively,” Wakefield said. “It’s no adjustment for me. I’ve just got to throw the ball over the plate. I can’t worry about who’s back there.”

Sometimes, his pitch moves so much that it’s virtually uncatchable. In the fifth game of the 2004 AL championship series, Varitek had two passed balls on his pitches in the 13th inning, but Boston beat the New York Yankees 5-4 in the 14th and went on to win the World Series.

“Anybody would have had a problem that day,” Wakefield said. “Dougie would have looked the same way.”

Huckaby was the first of the three to sign, agreeing to a minor-league deal last Dec. 14. A few weeks later, he traveled from his home in Arizona to Wakefield’s hometown of Melbourne, Fla., where Huckaby’s mother-in-law lives.

He spent about 18 days there as a head start in working with Wakefield.

“It’s tough,” Huckaby said, “but the movement gets pretty consistent. If you can see it early enough, you can tell which way the rotation’s going to take the ball and you can anticipate which way it’s going to break, but there’s that one out of 10 or 15 that kind of goes its own direction and that’s the one that chews you up.”

Huckaby, 35, has been with eight major-league organizations, starting with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he caught Tom Candiotti, who threw a knuckler, in the bullpen.

Flaherty, 38, returns to the team he began his career with before moving to Detroit, San Diego, Tampa Bay and the Yankees. Last season, he was the personal catcher for a much different pitcher, fireballer Randy Johnson.

“With Randy, it’s pretty straightforward. What he throws is just harder and sharper than anybody else,” Flaherty said.

With the Devil Rays in 1998, he caught Dennis Springer, who threw a knuckler.

“Obviously, he didn’t have a knuckleball like Wake has. This is the best that we’ve seen in this era and it’s one of those things that you really can’t prepare for,” Flaherty said. “You try to talk to as many people who have caught him and see if they’ve done anything that has helped them.”

He said Varitek and former Red Sox catcher and current first base coach Bill Haselman have talked with him about Wakefield, but “you have to experiment and find out what works for you.”

Even Wakefield can’t help much because he often doesn’t know where the pitch will end up.

“I can’t explain to them how to catch it,” he said.

Bard, 27, worked out in the offseason with left-hander Mike Myers, who played the last two seasons with Boston before moving to the Yankees. He also got tips from Chris Bando, his former catching coach who caught Candiotti.

“But it’s a lot different because Candiotti threw a really hard knuckleball and Wake will throw a hard one every once in a while, he’ll throw a soft one, he can change speeds and do some different things,” Bard said. “The biggest thing that everybody is telling me is you just have to relax and let the ball come to you because it’s going to dance all over the place.”

Sometimes, even, to the backstop.

“With every pitcher, if you call a pitch you know where he’s going to miss if it’s not right so you prepare for it,” Flaherty said. “With Wake, I don’t think you have that luxury. If he throws a knuckleball, you just don’t know where it’s going to go.”

AP-ES-02-24-06 1750EST