Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro, who pitched in 24 MLB seasons (mostly for the Braves), and won 318 games, died last night at age 81, after a long battle against cancer.
Niekro pitched until the age of 48, and he won 121 games after his 40th birthday (a record). His brother Joe was also a successful knuckleballer, winning 221 games; the two Niekros were taught the pitch by their father, and they hold the MLB record for wins by siblings.
Someone in a Facebook sports group that I follow noted that Niekro’s death makes eight members of the Baseball Hall of Fame who have died in 2020.
He was a fun pitcher to watch. He pitched well for the Yanks for 2 years in his mid-40s. Got 16 wins each year. This was after being a Brave for 21 years. He actually started with the Milwaukee Braves.
Hard to believe we lost 8 Hall of Famers.
So I’ve come up with 6 other names: Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson and Tom Seaver Al Kaline, Joe Morgan & Lou Brock
He might have prematurely included Dick Allen, who might have been elected by the Golden Days committee this year if their vote hadn’t been canceled by the pandemic.
I remember watching Niekro in the early ‘80s, when we first got cable TV, and the Braves’ games were on WTBS. He was fun to watch – he clearly enjoyed playing, he liked to push the envelope on what was a legal pitch, and just watching a sweaty, gray-haired guy throw junkballs that batters couldn’t hit was very entertaining.
I strongly believe that that Eddie Harris, the aging spitball pitcher in the film Major League, was based on Phil Niekro.
I saw him pitch a game in Wrigley Field when I was a kid, back in 1969. It was the height of the Cubs-Will-win-the-Pennant! craze and the place was packed—we wound up standing on a ramp on the third base side.
Niekro pitched well. He allowed a three run homer to Ron Santo in the first (I can still see it in my minds eye) and that was it. But he had the misfortune of going up against Ken Holtzman that day, and Holtzman pitched a no hitter. I believe Niekro did get one of his own later on… he was always fun to watch.
I enjoyed watching him when he was on the Yankees in the mid-eighties. It was also cool that his brother Joe joined him on the team. Has a team had two knuckle-ballers at the same time since?
We will not see his like again. Are there any current knuckle-ballers at all?
Wright’s Baseball Reference entry shows his last MLB appearance to have been in July of 2019. Jannis is a career minor-leaguer, who last pitched (in both AA and AAA) in 2019, as well (likely because there was no MiLB season in 2020).
I remember listening to his 300th win on the radio. I can quote myself from a few years ago:
Phil Niekro won his 300th game on the last day of the 1985 season, an 8-0 shutout of division champs Toronto. What was kind of cool about it, Niekro didn’t throw a knuckleball until the very last batter. The story here.
Niekro was 28 before he became a regular starter, and yet is fourth all-time in innings pitched (5,404.) That knuckle ball is gentle on the arm; I don’t think he had any serious injuries over his long career.
RIP to Niekro, Dick Allen and the others listed above.
The 1987 Cleveland Indians had two knuckle-ballers in the starting rotation: Niekro and Tom Candiotti. Niekro and the Candy Man tied for the team lead in wins with 7, and yes, the Indians really stunk in the 1980s.
One of Niekro’s more remarkable seasons was 1979, when he led the National League with 21 wins (for a last place team) and led the Majors with 20 losses. He had 41 decisions out of 44 starts.
His stats earned him 7.4 WAR that year, but he was even better year before, racking up 10 WAR with a 19-18 record and a 2.88 ERA. He compiled 45 complete games over those two seasons, and would have easily won two Cy Young awards by modern standards.
Niekro led MLB in ERA in 1967 with 1.67. That same year Bob Uecker came over to the Braves from the Phillies, and led the Majors with 27 passed balls (25 of them with the Braves) mainly because of catching for Niekro.
The Wiki article on Niekro has this anecdote by Uecker:
Uecker also said he got to meet many famous people when he caught for Niekro, running back to the seats behind home plate where the rich people sat.
I was coming in to mention the emery board incident, but then remembered that was Joe. I bet those two had some pretty funny baseball conversations over the years.