A successful knuckleball shot will move, dip, or wobble in the air unpredictably, making it difficult for the goalkeeper to save. Uecker acknowledged he did a lot of chasing. I don't think of his knuckleball. In 24 seasons with the Braves, Yankees, Indians and Blue Jays, Niekro was 318-274 with a 3.35 ERA. 300, entered the bottom of the ninth having shut out the Jays on curveballs, slip pitches, fastballs and screwballs -- everything but a knuckleball. He surrendered a league-leading 40 home runs that year, a feat he would not repeat until 1979. Niekro, who pitched well into his 40s with a knuckleball that baffled big league hitters for more than two decades, mostly with the Atlanta Braves, has died after a long fight with cancer, the team announced Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. Nobody likes to warm up with you." [1], In 1974, Niekro led the league in several pitching categories, including wins (20), complete games (18), and innings pitched (302.1). The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. You can pitch seven good innings with a knuckleball, and as soon as you walk a guy they go, 'See, there's that damn knuckleball.'" Sun 27 Dec 2020 13.34 EST. 12,210th in major league history) His total of 5,404+13 innings pitched is the most by any pitcher in the post-1920 live-ball era. Knuckleball pitchers can throw more innings than other pitchers, and, requiring less time to recover after pitching, can pitch more frequently. He emerged from Ohio coal mine country as a conventional pitching prospect, signing with the Braves in 1958 but resisting the knuckleball until a minor league manager told him to throw the knuckler or go home., (My father) taught it to me in the backyard, Niekro said. "I never knew how to throw a fastball, never learned how to throw a curveball, a slider, split-finger, whatever they're throwing nowadays," he said. Dedicated daily to memorializing notable personalities. Regardless of how the ball is gripped, the purpose of the knuckleball is to have the least possible amount of rotational spin. (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum), Phil Niekro was elected to the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors in 2009. Phil, Trying to hit him, said Yankees All-Star outfielder Bobby Murcer, is like trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks.. He played most of his many seasons with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves alongside brief stops with the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Cleveland. By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. He pitched in the major leagues from 1964 to 1987. And if you can throw a ball without any spin at 65-plus miles-per-hour, than you've got a great knuckleball grip.But there are overwhelming similarities between the grips of the great knuckleball pitchers; guys like Phil Niekro, Charlie Hough, Tom . Niekro, who pitched well into his 40s with a knuckleball that . On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my condolences to Phil's family, friends and the many fans he earned throughout his life in our National Pastime.". Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. (Parker Fish/National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum), Brothers Joe (left) and Phil Niekro squared off against one another on July 4, 1967 in a game won by Phil's Atlanta Braves against the Chicago Cubs, 8-3. [28], Niekro was a member of the board of directors for Kiz Toys, a toy company based out of Cumming, Georgia, and Niekro advised the company on the KizSport baseball line, reviewing product designs and development. He had been diagnosed with prostate[31] cancer.[32][33]. A statue of Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro, the winningest knuckleball pitcher in major league history, adorns the Atlanta Braves' Truist Park Tuesday, March 31, 2020, in Atlanta. "Catching Niekro's knuckleball was great. He was kind, a gentleman, family man, master of his trade and teamate 84-85. . ATLANTA (AP) Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, who pitched well into his 40s with a knuckleball that baffled big league hitters for more than two decades, mostly with the Atlanta Braves, has . He found both in 1967, when he was united with Bob Uecker, a veteran reserve backstop with many quips and sage advice. "[26], After the end of his professional baseball career, Niekro managed the all-women Colorado Silver Bullets baseball team. Phil Niekro won 318 games over his 24-year big league career. Do you have a blog? He took the mound for nearly a quarter of a century using the arm-saving pitch. Niekro joined Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan and Tom Seaver as Hall of Famers who died in 2020 -- the most ever to pass away in a calendar year, according to Hall of Fame spokesman Jon Shestakofsky. There are other prominent knuckleball pitchers like Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, who had a very effective knuckler and knuckle curve, and Cy Young Award winning pitcher R. A. Dickey. R. A. Dickey estimates that it takes at least a year to grasp its fundamentals. Twenty years after he broke into the majors, 45-year-old starter Phil Niekro deals a knuckleball against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium, Aug. 8, 1984. FILE - In this March 29, 2007, file photo, Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro holds a knuckleball at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. Over the distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate, the effect of these forces is that the knuckleball can flutter, dance, jiggle, or curve in two different directions during its flight. In 2013, J. P. Arencibia set a Toronto Blue Jays franchise record by allowing four passed balls in the season opener (a 42 loss) while catching for knuckleballer R. A. Dickey. Chris Haft. So thankful for our memories and time together. But the knuckleball carried Niekro to more than 300 wins, earned him a . "I got to meet a lot of important people. Philip Henry Niekro (/nikro/ NEE-kroh; April 1, 1939 December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie",[1] was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. By 1967, Niekro was one of the top pitchers in the game, leading the NL that year with an ERA of 1.87. He was 81. [1] That season, Phil and Joe Niekro were NL co-leaders in wins. Carroll would go on to become a two-time All-Star reliever for the Cincinnati Reds and would notch 143 saves over his career. Two later pitchers, Jesse Haines and Freddie Fitzsimmons, were sometimes characterized as knuckleball pitchers even by their contemporaries, but in their cases it again refers to a harder-thrown, curving pitch that would probably not be called a knuckleball today. The team was eliminated from the playoffs after losing the next two games. BL-1598-92 (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library), Phil Niekro posing with his plaque during the 1997 Hall of Fame Weekend. [29], The Gwinnett Braves' home, Coolray Field, has a restaurant, Niekro's, named after him. He finished third in the voting for the Cy Young Award that year. This change adds a deflecting force to the baseball, making it difficult for batters to hit but also difficult for pitchers to control and catchers to catch . [43][44][45][46][47] This technique has also been used and even adapted by several other players, such as Andrea Pirlo,[48][39] Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo,[49] Didier Drogba,[49] Marcus Rashford, Gareth Bale,[38] and Barbara Bonansea. For the 2012 documentary film, see, position players making pitching appearances, Game 5 of the 2004 American League Championship Series, "The Physics of Baseball: Knuckleball Research", "I am 2-time NL MVP Dale Murphy, former MLB player for the Braves, Phillies and Rockies. They all sit behind home plate." Bob Uecker During 24 big league seasons, Phil Niekro rode his knuckleball to 5,404 innings pitched - the most of any pitcher who started his career in the live ball era. [1], From 1975 to 1976, he went 1515 and 1711 and made a second All-Star appearance in 1975. 1978 Topps Nolan Ryan Phil Niekro Strikeout Leaders #206 NM HOF Nice Card! Knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro reacts to the news that he has been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during a press conference on Monday, Jan. 6, 1997 at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. Anything that you do that has a chance of putting even a tiny amount of spin on the ball must be eliminated, even if it feels comfortable. This was common due to the amount of practice one must put into the pitch. [21], At the age of 48, Niekro was the oldest player in major league history to play regularly until Julio Franco played at age 49 in 2007. "He was a constant presence over the years, in our clubhouse, our alumni activities and throughout Braves Country and we will forever be grateful for having him be such an important part of our organization. A reporter once noted that Phil is 48 but you'd never know it. Vic DeLucia/The New York Times. [12] He won 16 games in 1984 and made his fifth and final All-Star appearance. "[28] The year before, Niekro had received the most Hall of Fame votes out of all the players in the ballot, but had not received the required 75% of the vote for election. As with hitters, the unpredictable motion of the knuckleball makes it one of the most difficult pitches for catchers to handle, and they tend to be charged with a significantly higher number of passed balls. They hold the record for most combined wins by siblings in a career with 539. Former knuckleballer and pitching coach Charlie Hough says that the increased rarity of the knuckleball is due to scouts increasingly looking only for the best arm. Ralph Kiner compared Niekro's special pitch to "watching Mario Andretti park a car". La maledetta che sfida la fisica", "Noughty Boys: No one hit a free-kick quite like Juninho Pernambucano", "Pele to Zico to Beckham to Ronaldo: Evolution of the Free-Kick Masters", "Mestre de Pirlo, Juninho Pernambucano ensinou italiano a bater falta", "The Top 15 Best Shooters in World Football", "Bonansea: I was always daydreaming of football in class", The (Mostly) Complete List of Knuckleball Pitchers, NPR.org on the Red Sox's re-acquisition of Doug Mirabelli, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knuckleball&oldid=1137620558, This page was last edited on 5 February 2023, at 16:41. Following his baseball career, he managed the Colorado Silver Bullets, an all-women baseball team in the late 1990s. 300, entered the bottom of the ninth having shut out the Jays on curveballs, slip pitches, fastballs and screwballs -- everything but a knuckleball. "But even more than his signature pitch and trademark durability, Phil will be remembered as one of our game's most genial people. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Former catcher Bob Uecker, who caught for Phil Niekro, said, "The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and pick it up. Put yourself into a position to give yourself a chance and use two fingertips. Your pointer and middle fingertips throw the knuckleball. Find out more. [32] For a catcher, a key disadvantage to using a first baseman's glove mitt is that they are not designed for easy extraction of the ball from the glove, making it harder to prevent baserunners from stealing. After spending 25 of his 45 years in the Braves organization, Niekro is indeed a New York Yankee. Read More FILE - In this March 29, 2007, file photo, Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro holds a knuckleball at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. It features the Knucksie Sandwich, made with barbecue pork and cole slaw atop a corn muffin, said to be his favorite. Phil Niekro weighed 180 lbs (81 kg) when playing. The Yankees had fallen short of the postseason the day before with a loss in Toronto. His longevity was greatly aided by his reliance on the knuckleball, which puts far less stress on a pitcher's throwing arm than a standard repertoire of pitches. Phil Niekro, the Hall of Fame knuckleballer who won 318 games in a 24-year career, died in his sleep Saturday night after a battle with cancer, the Atlanta Braves announced Sunday. Stay away from them at all costs.And stay tuned for the next part of this never-ending series about knuckleball grips Theres just so much to talk about. A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. [20], As of 2019[update], Steven Wright of the Boston Red Sox was considered to be the last active knuckleballer in the MLB; he has since been released from the team. Taking a fly swatter to the batter's box would have worked just as well. ", "Knuckleballers' paths as tricky as the pitch", "MLB pitchers setting velocity records, altering balance of power", "Knuckleball life comes full circle for Wakefield", "Japan's 'Knuckle Princess' Arrives in U.S.", "Knuckleball pitchers may be a dying breed", "The art of the mysterious knuckleball is on the verge of extinction", "Wakefield, Dickey share a unique relationship", "R. A. Dickey calls Cy Young Award a victory for all knuckleballers", "Knuckleballer Mickey Jannis Making His MLB Debut at Age 33 Is So Cool", "Frazier breaks out knuckler in pitching debut", "You knew Wade Boggs could hit, but did you also know he had a nasty knuckleball? We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Check out some of his b. That edge was made possible by a game-winning home run Phil gave up to Joe, the only homer Joe hit in his 22-year career. Knuckleball paved Phil Niekro's path to Hall. We'll miss you, Knucksie. Niekro remains the last MLB pitcher to win and lose 20 games in the same season, finishing 21-20 with the Braves in 1979. The baseball field where he played at Bridgeport High School's Perkins Field athletic complex was renamed "The Niekro Diamond" in 2008 after Phil and his brother, fellow major league pitcher Joe Niekro.