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RIP Phil Niekro. HOF Braves Pitcher

ghostofuga1

Loved watching him throw the Knuckle Ball and baffling batters with it. I remember trying to master it myself way back then. I have an early teamed signed Braves baseball and Phil's sig is on it. Will always remember some of those players.

RIP Phil !!

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emanresu

I remember watching him as a kid and back then the only time we felt like we had a chance to win was when he was on the mound. Didn't even know that he'd passed away. May the Good Lord b with him.

orlando

Crazy to hear it here first. Phil was dgb

RIP Knucksie !

donmedeiros

https://forum.dawgnation.com/discussion/23225/rip-phil-niekro-hof-braves-pitcher

I modeled my knuckler as a kid after his. Too bad I had zero other good pitches. It would occasionally dance for me. I loved practicing that pitch.

TNDawg71

He had a stretch where he was truly dominant. Unfortunately spent a lot of time on some really bad teams.

I’ll always remember his “stolen” base.

Old_lady_dawg_fan

I met him back in the day. (Picture a kid with eyes popping our of her head.) It was a social setting so I could observe him for a while and he seemed to be a genuinely kind and courteous person.

PlayHurt

By far, my favorite Braves player of all time. I remember listening on the radio in the late 70’s when Knuxie almost broke up Pete Rose’s consecutive game hitting streak but gave up a hit to him late in the game to extend it to 44. The next night, the Braves held Rose hitless to end the streak.

TurkDawg

He was a bright spot on the Braves for many years and fun to watch.

I remember Willie Stargell of the Pirates hated having to face that knuckle ball of Niekro and would look silly trying to swing at it.

how2fish

I met him a few times in the 80's and 90's out and about . Seemed like a great guys with some really funny stories. Great pitcher on some really awful teams. R.I.P

SubmarineDawg

Sad news. RIP Knucksie!

MarkBoknecht

@TurkDawg If I remember correctly, Niekro pitched for 23 seasons, is probably one of the top-10 or top-20 in caarer strikeouts, and had a brother Joe who also pitched in the majors. And threw the knuckleball. Also, Hoyt Wilhelm of the White Sox (?).

I can believe that about Stargell. In fact, that knuckleball messed up some guy's hitting so bad it would carryover into subsequent games. Some hitters would actually take themselves out of a game as a result.

jc30116

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Niekro

Read under pitching repertoire to see what some of the all time greats had to say about his pitching. Watched a lot of his games as a kid and remember that last game he pitched before he retired. Made a lot of batters look silly over the years.

DvilleDawg

My dad loved watching Phil Neikro. I hate that he died but it has brought back great memories of my dad.

BarkingDawg

https://forum.dawgnation.com/discussion/comment/505240#Comment_505240

I was at that game. Went just to see Niekro who had just been re-signed so he could play his last game and retire as a Brave. Should never have been traded but that’s another story. Competed day in and day out, year in and year out for some horrible teams in the 70s. He may have won 400 game’s elsewhere.

RxDawg

Bob Horner was the first great Brave that I remember growing up. Phil was just before my time. But I remember my Dad and Grandad talking about Phil.

I knew a person that had to do some work in Phil's home once. He said there was a big stain glass window of a baseball in his house. And the baseball had a little notch in it lol.

JimWallace

I am sorry for the loss of this man.

Phil Niekro was an amazing baseball player. He figured out how to throw the most difficult to hit of all pitches, the knuckleball, at the very highest level. The pitch is hard to master, but throwing it doesn't drain the pitcher nor his arm. Thus he had a long, very successful career.

He has also a very capable hitter. A dangerous man at the plate. I believe I remember him hitting a home run (but I could be wrong).

I was fortunate to see Phil Niekro pitch many many times in the old Atlanta Braves stadium (the original stadium). He made many many great hitters look bad.

Go, Dawgs!