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Baseball Hall of Famer, knuckleballer Phil Niekro dies at 81
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. 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. He was 81. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File) Tony Dejak
FILE - In this March 13, 2017, file photo, former MLB pitcher and Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro waves to fans after he was introduced before a spring training baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates in Kissimmee, Fla. Niekro, who pitched well into his 40s with a knuckleball that baffled big league hitters for more than two decades, mostly with the Braves, has died after a long fight with cancer, the team announced Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. He was 81. (AP Photo/John Raoux,
Heck, he didn’t even know where it was going most of the time.
But the knuckleball carried Niekro to more than 300 wins, earned him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame and left him with a nickname that stuck for the rest of his life.
Knucksie.
The longtime stalwart of the Atlanta Braves rotation died after a long fight with cancer, the team announced Sunday, becoming the seventh member of the Hall of Fame to pass away in 2020. He was 81.
The Braves said Niekro died Saturday night in his sleep. He lived in the Atlanta suburb of Flowery Branch, where a main thoroughfare bears his name.
Ex-Yankee, Hall of Famer Phil Niekro dies
Updated Dec 27, 2020;
Posted Dec 27, 2020
Legendary knuckleballer Phil Niekro, a Hall of Famer, has died, the Hall of Fame said in a press release Sunday.Cleveland Plain Dealer
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The Hall said he died overnight after a battle with cancer.
“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,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
ATLANTA Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro has died at the age of 81.
Niekro passed away in his sleep on Saturday night. The suburban Atlanta resident had a longtime battle with cancer.
Niekro was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1997. The iconic knuckleballer collected 318 wins over a 24-year career that included stints with the Braves (1964-83 and 87), Yankees ( 84-85), Tribe ( 86-87) and Blue Jays ( 87). He was a five-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove Award winner who finished within the top six in National League Cy Young Award balloting five times from 69-82.