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Phil Niekro; Knucksie

Phil Niekro; Knucksie

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Legendary funnyman and former big league catcher Bob Uecker once said, "The Best way to catch a knuckle-ball, is to wait for it to stop rolling, and then pick it up." He also noted that catching Phil Niekro's knuckle-ball was a great experience. " It gave me a chance to meet all the important people sitting in the stands behind home-plate. Phil Niekro, or "Knucksie" as he was affectionately called, was an unapologetic one-pitch pitcher. He rode his rotation-less knuckle-ball pitch to amass 318 wins and 3,342 strikeouts in his illustrious 24 year career. An amazing feat, considering he didn't collect his 100th win until his age 34-season in 1972, 9 years into his MLB career. That and the fact that he only had 596 strikeouts to his credit at the age of 30. With his one 77 miles per hour, butterfly pitch that seemed to giggle at you as it crossed the plate, he confounded the greatest hitters on the planet, all the way to Cooperstown, New York. #PhilNiekro #Knucksie #BlaineOhio #BridgeportHighSchool #JoeNiekro #JohnHavlicek #BillMazeroski #BillMaughn #HarryMinor #NancyFerrand #MilwaukeeBraves #AtlantaBraves #NewYorkYankees #ClevelandIndians #TorontoBlueJays #KnuckleBall #BobbyCox #JoeTorre #TedTurner
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