Knuckling Under Not For Hough : Baseball: At 43, White Sox pitcher is still coming up a winner.

They look like a Norman Rockwell original set into motion, father and son in uniform, both long-legged and the slightest bit awkward.

At 43, Charlie Hough is one of only two knuckleballers pitching in the major leagues.

At 12, his son Aaron can throw the knuckleball a little, “Only somebody would hit it,” his father said.

“Yeah, I want to throw a knuckleball--and a 95-mile-an-hour fastball,” said Aaron, who has tagged along with his dad during the Chicago White Sox’ visit to Anaheim Stadium.

The dwindling knuckleball practice got another boost on Wednesday, as the pitch propelled Hough to his first victory of the season.

“A little far into the season,” he said.

Hough (1-2) gave up three runs on five hits in 7 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking two in a 5-3 White Sox victory.

In doing so, he dealt the Angels their third loss at the hands of a knuckleballer this season. Cleveland’s Tom Candiotti, the only other knuckleballer in the majors, has beaten the Angels twice with his fluttering, infuriating pitches.

Hough, whose battery-mate Don Wakamatsu was making his major-league debut, saw one Angels’ run score on a wild pitch in the first inning, and two of his pitches get away on passed balls.

“The first two innings I threw a couple by him,” Hough said. “Later, I think he blocked the ball and got real comfortable.”

Manager Jeff Torborg, who started Wakamatsu with the knuckleballer, said the two had worked together in spring training.

“Can you imagine that? Your first major league start you get up here and have to catch a knuckleballer?” Torborg said. “He did a nice job. He really settled down, and got his first base hit. That’s why we brought him up, to catch Hough.”

Hough learned the pitch after hurting his arm in 1969, three years after the Dodgers signed him as a first baseman. It was a Dodger scout, Gordie Holt, who first taught him the pitch that has carried his career into its 19th major league season.

Perhaps because of the anomaly, or maybe because of his age or genial manner--or even because he calls Brea home--Hough inspires a certain devotion among fans.

When the White Sox relieved him in the eighth inning, two batters after he gave up the Angels’ third run on a homer to Gary Gaetti, Hough left to a smallish but devoted ovation. As they cheered, he responded with a modest tip of his cap.

The pitch to Gaetti wasn’t one he was proud of.

“It was a terrible pitch, a lousy pitch,” he said. “I was trying to throw a ball, and I left it right over the plate. It gets a little difficult to get a guy out three or four times the way I throw. Sometimes you kind of run out of tricks.”

After many years with the Dodgers, Hough spent the past 10 full seasons with the Texas Rangers. In each of the past nine seasons, he has won at least 10 games, and his 133 victories over that time rank fifth in the majors behind Jack Morris, Bob Welch, Frank Viola and Dave Stieb.

He signed a one-year contract with the White Sox in December with an option for 1992.

With a career record of 187-171, there is no particular milestone to chase, but something keeps him at it.

“Winning,” he said. “What numbers? Just winning.”

He’ll think about accomplishments such as his 2,013 strike outs later on.

“That will be nice when I retire or get fired,” he said.

That might not be soon.

“Pitching bad is a lot better than not pitching at all,” he said.