(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
IN MEMORIAM
...Phil Niekro...
(1939 - 2020) |
 Braves knuckleball-legend and Hall of Famer Phil Niekro passed away
Nederlands
 FLOWERY BRANCH, Hall County, Georgia (USA) -
Legendary knuckleball-pitcher Phil Niekro, who played 24 seasons in the Major League, passed away on Saturday, December 26, at age 81.
The righthanded pitcher was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1997.
It was reported that Niekro had been ill for awhile.
It already has been a very tough year for Major League Baseball and baseball-fans worldwide, as we have had to say goodbye to several beloved and legendary players and icons for many.
Phil Niekro is the seventh Hall of Famer who passed away this year and the sixth since August 31.
On Monday, April 6, the baseball-world lost Hall of Famer and outfielder Al Kaline, who played in 22 Major League-seasons for Detroit Tigers and passed away at age 85.
On Monday, August 31, pitching-great Tom Seaver passed away at age 75.
Less than a week later, on Sunday, September 6, legendary St. Louis Cardinals-outfielder and Stolen Base-leader Lou Brock passed away at age 81.
On Friday, October 2, legendary St. Louis Cardinals-pitcher Bob Gibson passed away at age 84.
On Thursday, October 8, legendary New York Yankees-lefthander Whitey Ford passed away at age 91.
On Sunday, October 11, legendary second baseman Joe Morgan, who played in 22 Major League-seasons, including eight for the successful Cincinnati Reds 'Big Red Machine', passed away at age 77.
The last time this many Hall of Famers passed away in one year was 48 years ago.
Back then, in 1972, six Hall of Famers passed away, being Dave Bancroft, Roberto Clemente, Gabby Hartnett, Jackie Robinson, Pie Traynor and Zack Wheat.
At the moment of his passing, Clemente was no Hall of Famer yet.
He was elected a few months later in a special election after his tragic death on December 31, 1972.
Besides the seven Hall of Famers, the Major League-world also lost some other wellknown players this year.
Pitcher Don Larsen, who as pitcher of New York Yankees threw the lone Perfect Game in World Series-history and pitched in 14 Major League-seasons, passed away on Wednesday, January 1, at age 90.
Short stop Tony Fernández, who played in 17 Major League-seasons, including 12 with Toronto Blue Jays, passed away on Saturday, February 15 at age 57.
Outfielder Jim Wynn, who played in 15 seasons, eleven of them with Houston Astros, passed away on Thursday, March 26 at age 78.
First baseman/outfielder Bob Watson, who played in 19 seasons, including 14 with Houston Astros and also was a General Manager, worked for Major League Baseball and USA Baseball and made a cameo in the movie The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, passed away on Thursday, May 14, at age 74.
Outfielder Claudell Washington, who played in 17 seasons for seven clubs, passed away on Wednesday, June 10 at age 64.
Outfielder Jay Johnstone, who played 20 seasons in the Major League and was also known for his part in the comedy-movie The Naked Gun, passed away on Saturday, September 26 at age 74.
Four days later, Outfielder Lou Johnson, who worked for 40 years in the organization of the Los Angeles Dodgers, passed away on Wednesday, September 30, at age 86.
Former Los Angeles Dodgers relief great longtime Pitching Coach of the club Ron Perranoski passed away on Friday, October 2 at age 84.
First/Third baseman Dick Allen, who played in 15 Major League-seasons, was the 1964 Rookie of the Year and became a popular and productive player while playing in nine seasons for Philadelphia Phillies, passed away on Monday, December 7 at age 78.
Philip Henry Niekro was born on April 1, 1939 in Blaine, Ohio and was of Polish descent.
After attending Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, Ohio, Niekro was signed by Milwaukee Braves in July 1958 when he was 19 years old.
Niekro was a very talented pitcher, developed into a pitching great, went on to play in 24 Major League-seasons (1964-1987) and was known for a very effective knuckleball.
He learned the pitch from his father, who was a coal miner and had pitched semi-professionally.
In three of those seasons, 'Knucksie', which became Phil's nickname, played together with his younger brother Joe Niekro, who played in the Major League in 22 seasons, including eleven with Houston Astros.
Phil and Joe played together at Atlanta Braves (1973-1974) and New York Yankees (1985).
Combined, they won 539 games, which is a record for a brother-combination.
Phil Niekro made his professional debut in 1959 when he pitched in 33 games (two as starter) at what then was called the D-level in the Minor League.
In the next three seasons, Niekro remained a reliever when he pitched in Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A in the Braves-organization.
After missing the 1963 season due to military service, Niekro returned in 1964 and then pitched in 29 games in Triple-A.
In this season, he was a starting pitcher, as he started 21 games.
On April 15, 1964, two weeks after his 25th birthday, Phil Niekro made his Major League-debut.
The righthander then threw 1/3 inning in relief against San Francisco Giants, facing only one batter.
Players of the Giants on that day included Matty Alou, Orlando Cepeda, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.
Playing for the Braves that day were Hank Aaron, Felipe Alou (brother of Matty), Eddie Mathews and Joe Torre.
In the 1964 season, Niekro made ten Major League-appearances for Milwaukee Braves, all in relief.
From 1965 on, Phil Niekro played in the Major League through 1987.
Except for 17 games in Triple-A during the 1966 season.
Initially, like in the Minor League, Niekro was a reliever.
In 1965, he pitched in 41 games (one start) and was 2-3 with six saves.
The next season, Niekro threw in relief in 28 games and earned two save.
In 1967, he became a regular starter in the rotation of the Braves, who had moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta after the 1965 season.
In the 1967 season, Niekro pitched in 46 games (20 starts) and was 11-9 with nine saves.
Niekro struckout 129 batters in 207 innings, but led the entire Major League with his 1.87 ERA.
Niekro, who was a sideram pitcher, developed a very effective knuckleball, which sometimes was tough to handle for his catchers.
That regularly led to a wild pitch in which he was amongst the leaders annually.
In the 1967 season, Niekro led the Major League with 19.
In his entire career, he threw 226 wild pitches.
From 1968, Niekro was a starting pitcher and made sporadic relief-appearances.
In this season, he pitched in 37 games (34 starts, 15 complete) and was 14-12.
The next year, 1969, Niekro won 23 games and pitched in 40 games (35 starts, 21 complete).
From 1968 through 1986, Niekro made 30 or more starts annually, except for 1981 (22).
He led the Major League in starts in four consecutive seasons, 1977-1980 with respectively, 43, 42, 44 and 38.
With his 44 starts in 1979, Niekro is the last Major League-pitcher with 40 or more starts in one season.
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...The final outs of Phil Niekro's No-Hitter in 1973... |
On August 5, 1973, Phil Niekro threw a No-Hitter against San Diego Padres.
On that day, Atlanta Braves won 9-0 and Niekro struckout four batters, while giving up no basehits.
In that game, current Houston Astros Manager Dusty Baker was the centerfielder for Atlanta.
Davey Johnson, who in 2003 was the Manager of the Netherlands Baseball Team, then played at second base for the Braves.
In 1974, Phil Niekro led to National League with 20 victories.
He also had the most wins in 1979.
In that season, he won 21 games, but also led the Major League with 20 losses.
He is the last pitcher with 20 (or more) wins and losses in the same season.
It was the third and final time that he won 20 games.
Also in 1979, his brother Joe Niekro won 21 games while pitching for Houston Astros.
Phil Niekro was one of those pitchers who threw a complete game frequently.
He led the National League with 19 in 1974, 20 in 1977 and 22 in 1978, then led the Major League with 23 in 1979.
Because of throwing a lot of games, Niekro also led in Innings Pitched four times.
He career-high was 342 in 1979.
Niekro is the last pitcher with three consecutive seasons (1977-1979) of 300 or more innings pitched.
In 1977, Niekro led the National League with 262 StrikeOuts.
In 1983, his twentieth consecutive season with the Braves, Phil Niekro was 11-10 with a 3.97 ERA.
In October of that year, he was released.
In his long career with Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, Phil Niekro had a lot of teammates.
In his twenty seasons with the team, Joe Torre, Johnny Oates, Biff Pocoroba and Bruce Benedict were his catchers.
Amongst his longtime teammates with whom he played six or more seasons were Hank Aaron, Felipe Alou, Dusty Baker, Bruce Benedict, Rico Carty, Darrell Evans, , Rod Gilbreath, Bob Horner, Glenn Hubbard, Sonny Jackson, Mike Lum, Felix Millan, Dale Murphy, Marty Perez, Biff Pocoroba, Jerry Royster and pitchers Jamie Easterly and Ron Reed.
Amongst his teammates with whom he played five seasons or less are Sandy Alomar, Clete Boyer, Jeff Burroughs, Brett Butler, Orlando Cepeda, Chris Chambliss, Tito Francona, Cito Gaston, Davey Johnson, Eddie Mathews, Gary Matthews, Denis Menke, Johnny Oates, Gene Oliver, Tom Paciorek, Joe Torre, Claudell Washington, Bob Watson, Woody Woodward and Jim Wynn and pitchers Steve Bedrosian, Buzz Capra, Clay Carroll, Tony Cloninger, Al Hrabosky, Tom House, Mike Marshall, Andy Messersmith, Joe Niekro, Gaylord Perry, Warren Spahn and Hoyt Wilhelm.
Two of his former teammates later were his Manager with the Braves, Eddie Mathews and Joe Torre.
Niekro also played four seasons for the team when it was led by Bobby Cox.
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...Phil Niekro wins his 300th game in 1985... |
In January 1984, Niekro was signed for two years by New York Yankees.
In his first season with New York, he was 16-8 with a 3.09 ERA in 1984 and was selected for his fifth and final All Star Game.
In August 1984, the Atlanta Braves retired Niekro's uniform number 35.
The following year, Niekro was 16-12.
On October 6, the final day of the regular sason in 1985, Niekro shutout Toronto Blue Jays 8-0, going the distance for New York Yankees.
He closed the game with a strikeout in what was his 300th career win.
One of the first to congratulate him was his brother Joe, who then was a teammate.
Other teammates in that game were Don Baylor (DH), Rickey Henderson (CF), Don Mattingly (1B), Willie Randolph (2B), Dave Winfield (RF) and catcher Butch Wynegar.
Henderson and Winfield also were elected into the Hall of Fame.
As his 2-year contract had ended, Niekro was a Free Agent after the 1985 season.
Initially, he re-signed with the Yankees, but was released in March 1986, shortly before the start of the new season.
A few weeks later, Niekro was signed by Cleveland Indians for whom he pitched in the 1986 season and was 11-11.
The righthander also started in 1987 with Cleveland in what was his final Major League-season.
Niekro was 7-11, pitching in 22 games (all starts) for Cleveland when he was traded in August to Toronto Blue Jays.
He made three starts for Toronto, was 0-2 and 23 days after coming to the Canadian club, he was released.
Three weeks later, Niekro was signed again by Atlanta Braves.
At age 48, he made one more start for the club where he had started his career.
On September 27, 1987, Niekro was the starting pitcher in a home-game against San Francisco Giants, the same club against whom he had made his Major League-debut in 1964.
Niekro pitched the first three innings, walked six batters, gave up six basehits and five (earned) runs in what was his final Major League-appearance, as he announed his retirement shortly thereafter.
In his final game with Atlanta, Niekro of course wore his uniform number 35, which was retired three years earlier by the club.
However, a retired uniform number may always be worn by the player to whom the number belongs, whether he is a player or a coach.
That person is the only one allowed to wear the number.
In 1987, when he was 48, Phil Niekro was the oldest player in Major League-history.
That record was broken in 2007 by then 49-year old Julio Franco.
Phil Niekro never won a Cy Young Award, but finished in second place for this award in 1969 when he was 23-13 with a 2.56 ERA.
He finished in third place in 1974 with a 20-13 record and a 2.38 ERA.
Niekro was sixth in the Cy Young-voting in 1978 and 1979, then finished fifth in 1982.
He played in five All Star Games and won the Gold Glove five times.
...Phil Niekro's...
...Hall of Fame Plaque... |
Although he played in the Majors for 24 seasons, Niekro never won the World Series.
The 24 seasons without a World Series-win is a Major League-record.
In 1969 and 1982, he played with Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series, but the team was eliminated for the World Series both times.
After having turned 40 in 1979, Niekro won 121 more games and threw 1.977 innings.
Both more than any other pitcher after their 40th birthday.
In his 24-year Major League-career, Phil Niekro (who always played with uniform number 35) pitched in 864 games (716 starts).
He was 318-274 with a 3.35 ERA and was credited with 29 saves.
In 5.404 innings pitched, Niekro struckout 3.342 batters and walked 1.809.
He gave up 5.044 basehits, including 482 homeruns.
Niekro is one of only ten pitchers in the Major League-history with 300 wins and 3.000 strikeouts.
Only three pitchers threw more innings than Niekro, being Cy Young, Pud Galvin and Walter Johnson.
In 1985, Phil Niekro was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, which is located in Macon, Georgia and is the largest state Hall of Fame in size in the USA.
A statue of Phil Niekro was been placed outside Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1986.
This was the home stadion of Atlanta Braves in 1966-1996 and was the home of the baseball-tournament of the 1996 Olympic Games.
The statue then transfered to Turner Field, which was the team's home in 1997-2016.
It now also stands outside Truist Park, which is the home of Atlanta since 2017.
In 1997, his fifth year of eligibility, Phil Niekro was the lone player to be elected that year for the National Baseball Hall of Fame with 80.3 percent of the votes.
Later that year, he was inducted with player Nellie Fox and manager Tom Lasorda, who both were elected by the then-Veterans Committee.
In 1999, Niekro was inducted into the Ivan Allen Jr. Braves Hall of Fame, which was founded in that year to honor players, managers, coaches, executives, broadcasters, owners and other who have made significant contributions to the Braves organization throughout its long history in Boston (1871-1952), Milwaukee (1953-1965) and Atlanta (since 1966).
Niekro was a member of the inaugural class along with Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Warren Spahn.
The baseball-field of Bridgeport High School, where he studied and played when he signed his first professional contract, was renamed The Niekro Diamond in 2008 after both Phil and Joe Niekro.
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...In Memoriam Tribute Phil Niekro by Major League Baseball... |
Phil Niekro has always been very active in humanitarian organizations.
For that, he was honored with the Lou Gehrig Award (1997), the Roberto Clemente Award (1980) and the Brian Piccolo-YMCA Humanitarian Award (1978).
The Lou Gehrig Award is handed out annually since 1955 to a player who best exhibits the character and integrity of legendary Lou Gehrig on and off the field.
The Roberto Clemente Award is handed each year since 1971 to a player who 'best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanschip, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team'.
This Award was originally known as the Commissioner's Award, but was renamed in 1973 after the death of Clemente on December 31, 1972.
Seven years after having ended his playing career, Phil Niekro was a Manager for four years.
Not of a Major League or Minor League-team, but of the professional women's baseball-team Colorado Silver Bullets, which was the first professional women's team since 1954.
With Niekro as its Manager, try-outs were organized and most players were college softball-players.
Phil's brother Joe was one of the coaches.
In 1994-1997, the team played 195 games played games throughout the country against all star or semi-pro men's teams.
Since 2009, Phil Niekro was member of the Board of Directors of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
The humble knuckleballer developed several fundraisers, was a baseball ambassador and was always available for fans.
He took time to sign baseballs, talk to them and was very approachable.
Atlanta Braves issued the following statement:
,,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.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Nancy, sons Philip, John and Michael and his two grandchildren Chase and Emma.”
Major League Commissioner Rob Manfred stated:
,,Phil Niekro was one of the most distinctive and memorable pitchers of his generation.
In the last century, no pitcher threw more than Phil’s 5,404 innings.
His knuckleball led him to five All-Star selections, three 20-win seasons for the Atlanta Braves, the 300-win club, and ultimately, to Cooperstown.
But even more than his signature pitch and trademark durability, Phil will be remembered as one of our game’s most genial people.
He always represented his sport extraordinarily well, and he will be deeply missed.
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.''
Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said:
,,Phil Niekro’s record on the field ranks him as one of the game’s finest pitchers.
As a mentor, leader and friend, Phil brought out the best in all of us in Cooperstown.
Over more than a decade of serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hall of Fame, his wisdom, his compassion, and his love for the game proved to be invaluable in helping us shape our decisions.
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the staff of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, I would like to send our heartfelt condolences to Nancy Niekro and the Niekro family.''
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News extends his condolences to the family of Phil Niekro and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(December 28)
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