Phil Niekro, a pitcher who used his exclusive knuckleball to trick generations of hitters and craft a career at the Hall of Fame, died Saturday night asleep after a long battle with cancer, the Atlanta Braves announced Sunday. He was 81 years old.
Niekro, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997, was one of baseball’s most prolific and enduring pitchers, who used his “butterfly” pitch to win 318 games in a career spanning 24 seasons, 20 of which years with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves.
“We are heartbroken by the passing of our dear friend, Phil Niekro,” the Braves said in a prepared statement. “Knucksie was woven into the Braves fabric, first in Milwaukee and then in Atlanta. Phil baffled the batters on the field and later was always the first to join our community’s activities. It was during those activities. community and fan where he would communicate with fans as if they were long lost friends.
“It was a constant presence over the years, in our clubhouse, in our alumni activities and throughout Braves Country, and we will be forever grateful that it is such an important part of our organization.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Nancy, children Philip, John and Michael and their two grandchildren Chase and Emma.”
As with many knuckleball pitchers, age showed no barrier for Niekro. He racked up 121 wins after turning 40, a major league record, and reached the age of 48. At the end of 1987, his last season, Niekro ranked 10th among the top ranked in number of seasons played. Only Cy Young, “Pud” Galvin and Walter Johnson threw more entries than Niekro’s 5,404. No pitcher since the era of the dead ball spent more time on a mound in the major leagues.
“Phil Niekro was one of the most distinctive and memorable pitchers of his generation,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a prepared statement. “In the last century, no pitcher threw more than 5,404 entries from Phil. His knuckleball took him to five All-Star selections, three 20-win seasons for the Atlanta Braves, the 300-win club and, finally, in Cooperstown.
“But even more than his exclusive duration and his trademark, Phil will be remembered as one of the coolest people in our game. He always represented his sport extraordinarily well and will miss him deeply. On behalf of the Major League Baseball, wide condolences to Phil’s family, friends and the many fans he won throughout his life in our national pastime. “
The symbol of the success and longevity of Niekro’s career was the knuckleball, that whimsical float that baffles not only beaters and captors, but also pitchers who never really know how to dance the tone without rotating towards the plate. .
Niekro was the king of the knuckleballers, ranking first in victories and attacks (3,342). Tom Candiotti, a notable hitter in his time and a former Niekro’s teammate with the 1986 Cleveland Indians, said talking to “Knucksie” was “like talking to Thomas Edison about light bulbs.”
If staying in the majors could be due to the machine, the same could be said of Niekro’s initial difficulty in reaching the big leagues. Perplexed captors and managers wary of past balls and wild throws were reasons often cited for Niekro’s prolonged stay in the Braves ’minor league system. Signed in 1958, it did not remain permanently for nearly a decade. Still, Niekro had everything he had, everything he believed in.
“I never knew how to throw a fast ball, I never learned how to throw a curve ball, a slider and a split finger, whatever they are throwing today,” he said. “I was a one-throw pitcher.”
First called by Milwaukee in 1964, Niekro sawed between majors and minors, a pitcher struggling to find a niche and able to capture. He met the two in 1967, when he teamed up with Bob Uecker, a reserve veteran with many wise suggestions and advice.
“Ueck told me that if I ever won I would throw the ball at everyone and try to catch it,” Niekro said. “I led the league in ERA [1.87] and led the league in balls past. “
Uecker acknowledged that he made many persecutions.
“Catching Niekro’s ball was fantastic,” said Uecker, now a Hall of Fame announcer. “I had to meet a lot of important people. They all sit behind the plate at home.”
In 1969, Niekro was an All-Star. His 23 wins that season earned him second place in the National League Cy Young Award vote. He would continue to live two more decades inside the heads of the beaters. “There aren’t a lot of hitters who like golf pitchers,” he said. “I may not intimidate them, but I’m sure they think about it before they get into the box.”
“Trying to hit Phil Niekro is like trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks,” said Bobby Murcer, a former Yankees All-Star player.
“Just destroy your time with this knuckleball,” said the famous Ernie Banks Hall of Fame. “He comes in there flying inward diving and jumping like crazy and he just can’t be hit.”
“In fact, he laughs as it happens,” former cameraman Rick Monday said.
Niekro, born in Blaine, Ohio, April 1, 1939; he was the proud descendant of a kind of family dynasty. Phil Niekro Sr., a part-time semi-professional worker and pitcher, had dominated the knife after an arm injury threatened to end his playing days. He would teach his children, Phil Jr. and Joe, the playing field when they were young. Phil and Joe, known as “Knucksie” and “Little Knucksie,” respectively, learned well, pitched a total of 46 major league seasons, won six All-Star Game berths, and perhaps in the their proud success, combined for 539 victories.
Their total wins remain a major league record for the brothers, as they beat another sibling combination with a Hall of Famer: Gaylord and Jim Perry (529 wins combined).
Although Phil and Joe Niekro teamed up twice, with the 1973-74 Braves and the 1985 Yankees, the two best self-proclaimed best friends were often friendly rivals. In 1979, Phil, pitcher for the Braves, and Joe for the Astros, tied for most wins in the National League, with 21 each. They clung to each other as opponents of the mound, with Joe defeating his older brother, 5-4, in their races. This advantage was made possible by the victory of a home game that Phil gave up on Joe, the only man Joe achieved in his 22-year career.
When Phil Niekro won his 300th match, Joe was by his side and it was arguably the most unique victory of the big brother’s career. It was October 6, 1985, the last day of the season. The Yankees had fallen below the postseason the day before with a loss to Toronto. In the end, coach Billy Martin handed Joe Niekro the task of pitching coach and the ball to Phil Niekro. Phil, attempting for the fifth time to win the No. 300, entered the bottom of the ninth after locking the Jays into curveballs, throws, fastballs and snail balls, all but a knuckleball.
Later, I would say he wanted to prove that he was a pitcher, not just a footballer. Then the feeling finally took over with two outs in the ninth. Faced with Jeff Burroughs, an old friend and former Braves teammate, Phil Niekro pitched four pitches: the last three knuckles. Burroughs finished with the Yankees with an 8-0 win and Niekro his milestone.
“I thought if there was any way to win my 300th game by eliminating the guy, I would do it with the playing field that won the first game for me,” Niekro said.
Phil Niekro’s playing days ended in 1987, but he would put on a uniform once again, as manager of the Colorado Silver Bullets (1994-1997). Your pitching coach? Joe Niekro.
Phil Niekro was preceded in death by Joe Niekro, who suffered a fatal brain aneurysm in 2006.