Only nine of the 17,000-plus men who have played major league baseball played for more seasons than Phil Niekro, who pitched for the Braves, Yankees, Indians, and Blue Jays for 24 seasons. Among pitchers, only Cy Young, Pud Galvin, and Walter Johnson have been on the mound for more innings than Niekro’s 5,404—and none of them in baseball’s post-1920, live-ly ball era. And Niekro indeed threw a “lively ball.” He is perhaps the greatest practitioner of the knuckleball. The knuckleball is a notoriously difficult pitch to hit—and to catch.
After brief major league stints in 1964-66, Knucksie stuck in 1967, leading the NL in ERA (at 1.87) and in wild pitches (with 19). He went 23-13 for the Braves in 1969, as they captured the first-ever NL West division title. (biography from baseballhall.org)
