Phil Niekro

Philip Henry Niekro learned the knuckleball from his father in the backyard of their home in Lansing, Ohio, a coal-mining community in the eastern hills of the state. The elder Phil worked in the mines, pitched semipro ball, and after his arm gave out he learned the knuckleball from another miner and passed it to both his sons. Phil won 318 games across 24 seasons, pitched until he was 48 years old, threw a no-hitter, won five Gold Gloves, recorded 121 wins after turning 40 (a major league record), and combined with his brother Joe for 539 career victories, the most by any brothers in the history of the game. Bobby Murcer said, "Trying to hit Niekro is like trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks." Pete Rose said, "I work for three weeks to get my swing down pat and Phil messes it up in one night." Bob Uecker, who caught the knuckleball regularly, summarized the experience. "Catching Niekro's knuckleball was great. I got to meet a lot of important people." The BBWAA elected Niekro to the Hall of Fame in 1997 on 80.3 percent of the ballot.

Blaine

Niekro was born on April 1, 1939, in Blaine, Ohio, and grew up in nearby Lansing. His childhood friend John Havlicek attended the same high school and became a Basketball Hall of Famer. In high school Niekro posted a 17-1 record, and his only loss was a 1-0 defeat on a home run by Bill Mazeroski, the future Pirates second baseman who would hit the most famous home run in World Series history six years later. The Braves signed Niekro in 1958 for a $500 bonus, and when he was released from the Class D Wellsville team early in his minor league career, he protested. "I'm not going!" he told the manager. "I need to play, I just need to play!" They gave him another chance.

Niekro debuted with the Milwaukee Braves on April 15, 1964, and by 1967 he led the National League with a 1.87 ERA after transitioning from reliever to starter. He threw a no-hitter against the Padres on August 5, 1973, and pitched 20 or more wins in 1969 (23-13) and 1974 (20 wins, league leader). In 1979, at 40, he went 21-20, becoming the last pitcher in the major leagues to win and lose 20 games in the same season. His brother Joe also won 21 that year for Houston.

The 300th

The knuckleball defeated hitters and catchers in roughly equal measure. In 1954, Giants catcher Ray Katt set a record with four passed balls in a single inning behind Hoyt Wilhelm, and Niekro's catchers endured similar chaos across three decades. Rick Monday said the pitch "actually giggles at you as it goes by." Ralph Kiner compared watching it to "watching Mario Andretti park a car." Niekro won five Gold Gloves (1978-1980, 1982-1983), the first Atlanta Braves pitcher to earn one, because the knuckleball gave him time to become one of the best fielding pitchers in the game.

On October 6, 1985, pitching for the New York Yankees at Toronto, Niekro won his 300th game with an 8-0 shutout of the Blue Jays. He was 46 years old. He threw fastballs, changeups, curveballs, and even a screwball for eight innings, saving the knuckleball for the final batter, Jeff Burroughs. He opened the at bat with a fastball for strike one, then threw four knuckleballs, the last three for strikes, fanning Burroughs swinging. "I can't think of a better way to win 300 than with a knuckleball," he said, "what my dad taught me." His father, seriously ill in a Wheeling, West Virginia, hospital, heard the game play-by-play over the telephone and woke during the seventh inning to tell Niekro's mother, "Boy, he's pitching a helluva game." Brother Joe, then a Yankees teammate, was the first to congratulate him.

Flowery Branch

The Braves released Niekro after the 1983 season, and he said it felt like the longest day of his life. "I was born a Brave, and I wanted to die a Brave." He pitched for the Yankees, Indians, and Blue Jays, and in September 1987 the Braves signed him for $1 so he could retire in the uniform he wore for 20 years. He was pulled after three innings of his final start and protested the manager's decision to take him out. He retired at 48 without ever reaching a World Series.

Niekro managed the Colorado Silver Bullets, an all-women's professional baseball team, from 1993 through 1996, and mentored knuckleballers Tim Wakefield, Steve Sparks, and R.A. Dickey. He died of cancer in his sleep on December 26, 2020, at his home in Flowery Branch, Georgia, at 81, the seventh Hall of Famer lost that year alongside Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan, and Tom Seaver.