Baseball's Greatest Knuckleballer Was Overlooked
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2024
- Phil Niekro had an incredible season in 1978, yet it somehow is forgotten as arguably the greatest knuckleballer season...EVER. His knuckleball baffled hitters for 24 years, and after compiling 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts, an extremely exclusive club, becoming the only knuckleballer to do so. He also for good measure pitched the 4th most innings of all time, including the man himself, Cy Young. Out of all the single season performances Niekro put together, none quite reach the height of his 1978 season, a year in which he put together a 10 WAR! In today's video, we go over how Niekro was able to accomplish such a feat, as well as detailing whether or not he should have won the Cy Young and/or MVP award.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:48 Meet Phil Niekro
1:54 Rough Start
2:48 It's Getting Better
3:43 A Step Forward
4:24 Keep it up, Phil!
5:03 A Grand Finale?
6:51 Niekro was ROBBED
7:24 Success and Longevity
8:19 Why no Cy Young?
10:10 MVPhil?
10:36 Conclusion
#baseball #knuckleball #atlantabraves
Additional tags:
Phil Niekro 1978 season, Greatest knuckle ball season in baseball, baseball greatest knuckleball pitcher, GOAT knuckle ball, knuckle ball, Dave Parker MVP, Phil Niekro prime, 1978 baseball, Gaylord Perry Cy Young, 1978 MVP, 1978 Cy Young, Best baseball players from the 1970s, Atlanta Braves Phil Niekro, Phil Niekro Hall of Fame, Phil Niekro complete game, Phil Niekro 10 inning complete game, The greatest knuckleballer, Phil Niekro David Letterman, The David Letterman Show, Phil Niekro on talk show
Players relevant to the video:
Pud Galvin, Walter Johnson, Sandy Alcantara, Nolan Arenado, Dave Parker, Gaylord Perry, Justin Verlander, Steve Garvey, Ron Guidry, Rich Hill, Josh Harrison, Joe Morgan,
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All music from Epidemic Sound
Outro: "Catching Flights" by Sarah, The Illstrumentalist
Sources (websites):
www.baseball-almanac.com/play...
www.baseball-reference.com/aw...
www.baseball-reference.com/pl...
Sources (for highlights and video footage shown):
• Phil Niekro Had an Imp...
• Phil Niekro had an INS...
• Phil Niekro Waves Joe ...
• Phil Niekro on Letterm... - Спорт
I watched those Braves back in the 70's. It was like the Keystone Cops play baseball. The fact that they were a winning team with one variable assumed - Phil Niekro starting - is amazing. He played most of his career with teams that couldn't hit, couldn't field and in a hitters' park. To say nothing about the poor bullpens (yes, the Braves were bad at everything) that cost him game after game. Very few people had any idea of how great a pitcher he was. If he had pitched for some of those great 70's teams - Reds, A's, etc. - or had had the kind of defense behind him that say Jim Palmer did - Brooks Robinson at 3rd, Mark Belanger at short, etc. - well, you get the point. Truly a great pitcher. And (more importantly) a really great human being too. I remember 1978 well; the fact that he was 6th in the Cy Young voting was one of the biggest jokes in awards voting history. There were not 5 better pitchers in the NL that year. No way.
The Reds were trying to skgn Knuxie, but Johnny Bench said, "great... whos gonna catch him?" Just imagine Knuxie on the Big Red Machine!
RIP Tim Wakefield
Phil Niekro was really fun to watch back in the day. When he was on he was on!
Nuksy was a beast. He did it a long time and on some bad teams at times. He, Murphy, and Horner were the anchors of a pretty decent run from 81-83, but the team got really bad again after that.
Overlooked right into the HoF 😐 Honestly I never saw hitters look worse than they looked trying to hit Phil
Talk about Don Mattingly.
I’ve got the script for my Mattingly video almost done, should be out 2 weeks from today 🤙🏼
@@Cam23 Thanks 😃⚾️
@Cam 23 Hi Cam 23. Thanks again for the Boggs video. I have a idea 💡 for another one when you have time. His name is George Brett.
It was very enjoyable watching Phil strike out big sluggers who were trying to hit his "flutter ball. " He knew that somtimes a few of his knucklers were going to go a long way; nevertheless, he continued to throw them. Perportedly, he told Tim Wakefield, "It ain't where you've been: it's where you're going." In other words, don't let your having thrown a home run ball shake you up. Just keep bearing down! "
😮
I’d love to see a video on Chase Utley, super underrated player, but one of the best to do it in the 2000s and early 2010s.
He’s eligible to be on the HOF ballot in 2024, and he definitely has a great shot at getting in
I was pissed he went to LA, but his preforming on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia keeps a special place in my heart!!! He's always a hoagie eating Philly to me!!!
A great but extremely dirty player haha
Favorite pitcher for awhile when I was a kid. Great video
very enjoyable video! appreciate you putting in the work and posting this!
Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Regarding Neikro's 19-18 record in '78, my pops taught me if a pitcher wasn't good, they wouldn't have enough starts to lead the league in losses.
He
For quite a few years, Phil Niekro and Hank Aaron played on a team, the Braves, that was abysmal, a perineal loser; yet they compiled outstanding stats. This fact alone proves their greatness. And despite their stellar caliber of on-the-field performance, both of them were humble men who truly loved baseball and we're worth every dollar of their salaries. Ted Turner paid them very well, no doubt, for their loyalty to the Braves and the Atlanta fans.
🤩
Yeah, it's finally out. Thank you a lot. Amazing video.
Also the comparison between Verlander and Niekro is pretty cool, as they were both 39 on their respective seasons, but one won the cy young and the other didn't.
Thanks, glad you liked it! Verlander was a cool comp because of how successful he has been so late in his career. And he’s throwing high 90s still which is ridiculous
@@Cam23 Verlander has indeed been a fine wine.
Grew up in Atlanta. Aaron and Niekro were the team back then. Great!
Loved watching Phil throw that nasty nuckleball on wtbs cable that we got in late 1977.. we used to have just this week in baseball on Saturday. Then there was his brother Joe. Charlie hough was another one besides Gaylord perry.
Amazing that he pitched till nearly 50yrs old
Dave Parker and Dwight Evans should both be in the Hall of Fame and deserve videos
Could you please do a video on Brooks Robinson. (16 consecutive gold gloves)
yes he did deserve the cy young
Hey heres a few players you could do videos on that would be good, daryl strawberry, eric gagne, andrew jones, brian wilson, ron gant, john rocker, dennis eckersley
Thanks for the suggestions! Strawberry is a player I’ve had a few people say so I definitely gotta do him
Spare us a video on John rocker. We all know about that idiot
That Hill flashback..losing the perfect game and in walk off fashion..as a Dodgers fan, I felt the pain for Rich 😪😪but he pitched his a** off that night against the Bucs
He gave it all he had, that’s for sure!
His entire career was overlooked, he was elected to the Hall of Fame with only 80% of the vote, think about that. He got 300 wins and 3000 K and only got 80%
Gerrit Cole pitches deep into games for the Yankees, it's one of the reasons he won the Cy Young Award in 2023. Why isn't he mentioned here? Alcantara isn't the only pitcher who goes deep into games.
It was a 1-1 comparison, and Alcantara has led the league in complete games the past two seasons. I never said he was the only one who pitches deep into games, I merely stated he is a "rarity" in the game today.
@@Cam23 I've only pointed out to you that Gerrit Cole has both accomplished accumulating top totals in innings pitched and added to that his win totals as a pitcher. As well as being a Cy Young winner. It's not a criticism of Alcacantara or suggestion he's inferior to Cole. I'm only stating Cole's significant accomplishments as a major league pitcher. Have a blessed day.
Alcantara, correct spelling
@@Cam23 By the way, you gave a very good presentation and effective data and documentation on the considerable achievements of Phil Niekro as one of major league baseball's finest ever pitchers, thanks.
@@tommcconville677 Thanks! I appreciate that 🙌🏼
Niekro please
Do Dale murphy
Talk about Edgar Renteria, guy had a very good career.
When pitchers mold a strike zone good umpires, maybe good hitters respond.
Ive heard his brother was just a regular pitcher who occasionally threw a knuckleball. It that right?
Joe Niekro was also a knuckleballer in his own right for 22 years so yes you are correct!
I want you to talk about cal Ripken
I did recently! 🤙🏼
The INSANE Prime of Cal Ripken Jr.
ua-cam.com/video/M_kUOzQJi88/v-deo.html
Wait, did you say he threw 21 complete games in one season?!?!?!?!?!
He threw 20+ CGs 4 times 😳
Joe Carter 💯
When it was working, he was a nightmare.
The Braves lineups from 1976 to 1979 were some of the worst, if not the worst, in the sport.
imagine throwing 3 era and the team can't score 4 run a game? Mainstream media would tell you he's terrible. Yet, the team doesn't score enough to win if a pitcher gives up more than 2.5 runs a game. Rough.
Another good video would be the mvp braun stole from kemp
Low key I kinda already did that one you should check out my Kemp video, but a video focusing on it might be cool too
Pitching hasn't evolved, its devolved
The art of pitching yes throwing a baseball has come along way tho
i dont know if he should have won either one of them but he should have definitely been higher in both voting
A 10 war? He has 18 loses. Which led the league and yes he did win 19, still isn’t a Steve Carlton 1972 season, which btw you should do a video on. Perry even had a lower era so imo niekro wasn’t rob of a cy young. Even though he is an underrated pitcher.
Knuckle ballers are always overlooked. Why? Their pitch is NOT scuffed, spit on, vaselined, emory boarded, NOTHING. It's 'clean as a whistle' Some so called fans and "writers" are just petty.
Let's face it, my fellow Niekro fans it: Even during the era when Phil pitched, many basball writers asserted that regardless of his career statistics, he had compiled his stellar record by using a "trick pitch" rather than "real" standard pitches, ie., blistering fastballs, curves, etc. They probably thought of him as a men's Sunday afternoon pick-up game in the neighborhood, not a REAL MAJOR LEAGUE HURLER. DISGUSTING! DISGUSTING
Lenny Dykstra!!!
Oooh that’s a good suggestion. Dykstra has been a guy I’ve wanted to make a video on before and just never got around to it
@@Cam23 please do!!! I saw him all growing up in Philly!!! He shook my hand twice and will never forget he told me when I told him I played ball he said " No matter what you do be tough as NAILS!!!" Probably cause I called him Nails!!! He was a nice dude!!! Then he named his book Tough As Nails!!! I love that guy!!!
That’s an awesome story!