Baseball's Greatest Knuckleballer Was Overlooked

baseball's most famous knuckleballer had a year in  1978 that will blow your mind but at the time it   was overlooked before we get into the video make  sure to comment below who you want to see talked   about on the channel next because this video would  not have been possible without this comment Phil   Nico in his career became the only knuckleballer  to become a member of the 300 Win 3000 strikeout   Club a historic group that cements a Hall of Fame  career in the eyes of the voters along with this   he threw the fourth most innings for a pitcher of  all time with 5404 only behind Cy Young PUD Galvin   and Walter Johnson in terms of War Nico ranked  11th all time among pitchers posting a 97 War   for his career before we go over Nico's incredible  1978 season let's discuss how he got there Phil   negro was taught the knuckleball by his father  and committed to primarily throwing the pitch   once breaking into the minor leagues after four  years in the miners and another year spent in the   U.S army nekro made the Milwaukee Braves opening  day roster in 1964. it would take another three   years before nekro would become a regular starter  with the Braves he posted a league leading 1.87   era in 1967. the only era title of his career over  207 Innings of work jumping a couple years later   1969 was Nico's first All-Star season posting a  2.56 era winning 23 games and throwing 21 complete   games he would finish second in citing voting  this season Nico had a down year following this   fantastic season but then over the next six years  from ages 32 to 37 was the reliable Workhorse   that he was known to be he posted a 3.02 era and  averaged 274 Innings a year in this span 1977 was   a year that he posted an era above four for just  the second time in his career he was still able to   lead the league in Innings because come on we're  talking about Phil nekro here that now brings us   to Phil negro's historic 1978 season a year that  started off on the wrong foot eight runs allowed   six of which were earned in his opening start  against the Dodgers in which he surprisingly was   able to make it through five innings he followed  this up with a bounce back start firing a complete   game and allowing just two earned runs April  was a very rocky road as negro's success in this   month was sporadic at best a rough start a good  start then Nico decided to cap off the month with   back-to-back complete games and allowed just one  unearned run looking at the complete picture the   bad starts were nearly erased when looking at his  2.66 era for the month however the two and four   record definitely remembers those blow up outings  you'll start to see that this coupled with little   run support becomes the reason for such a poor  record on paper a trend that starts to make itself   apparent when looking at necro season is a slow  start to the month before settling in and firing   off some solid outings consecutively May was no  exception as he surrendered six earned runs in   five innings nearly duplicating his season opener  overall May was a solid month as he posted a 3.27   era and hurled three complete games although one  of those complete games was not your prototypical   CG Nico practically put the Braves on his back  on May 17th as he threw a 10 ending complete Game   allowing just one run and four hits luckily nekro  was rewarded with a win for his effort that game   as the Braves came out on top 2-1 against the  Mets nekro nearly cloned his May performance to   June hosting an era just one point lower than the  previous month negro's 3-3 record includes some   tough luck losses as he allowed just two runs over  eight Innings and three runs over nine innings yet   came away with the loss in both of these outings  in just three months Nico now had 10 complete   games with three of those being shutouts July was  a huge step forward for negro as he got into nine   games two of which were relief appearances one  of which he picked up the saving negro's 2.69   era for the month was his best yet obviously it  was a different time but the 63 and two-thirds   Innings thrown by negro in this month alone would  be astronomical in the game today Sandy Alcantara   baseball's modern day top of the line Workhorse  had his heaviest workload in June of 2022. he   made six starts one of which was a complete game  and pitched 47 and two-thirds Innings it's crazy   how much the game has evolved to where modern day  starters are not expected to pitch deep into games   Alcantara is a rarity in the game today but the  comparison speaks for itself now let's go back to   Phil negro's 1978 heading into August Phil nekro  season through the first half saw him throw 167   Innings while tallying a 3.13 era not bad numbers  at all especially considering that his 99 record   might suggest otherwise in regards to his success  in back-to-back months nekro fired four complete   games this time with one of them being a shut  up his 3.32 era was surprisingly the highest   for any month this season we should tell you a  thing or two about the level of Excellence necro   established for himself in this season Phil  nekro's rough start to the season felt like   a distant memory heading into the final month of  the season in September for his Grand Finale necro   took elements of other months and found a way to  incorporate them into his final Act unfortunately   one of those scenes included a callback to  starting the month off slow and finishing strong   in his first start of September necro may have  thrown six Innings but he allowed five runs four   of which were earned luckily negro had a few more  tricks up his sleeve like we talked about earlier   negro didn't stop at a nine inning complete game  if the game wasn't over with his team refusing to   score runs for him Nico took matters into his  own hands on September 13th he couldn't help   himself and threw another 10 ending complete  game wait hold on a second here this can't be   right ladies and gentlemen I don't believe this  Ripley's Believe It or Not necro finished this   game with a no decision the game went 12 Innings  and Gene Garber a very solid reliever in this   day pitched two innings and got the win as the  Braves won 5-3 over the Giants now I don't know   what he said after this game ended but I would  imagine he was both relieved and frustrated he   imagined throwing 10 endings and then losing  the game I wonder if that's happened before for the month of September negro finished with his  highest workload of the Season throwing 65 Innings   and putting up a glimmering 2.22 era the best of  any month if it wasn't for an oddball no decision   that would have been a complete game on almost  any other night Nico would have had five complete   games but he settled for his third straight  month of four CGS somehow in his best month   nikro managed a 3-4 record the unfortunate reality  is that Nico entering his final three starts had a   3-1 record but entered a weird situation where he  allowed two runs one run and four runs and walked   away with three losses all three starts he made  it through eight or more Innings and while he   probably shouldn't have won all three starts he  certainly shouldn't have been Owen three overall   for the season nikro posted an absurd 10.4 war in  1978 10 if you're looking at baseball reference   the best of all MLB players that Year Ron Guidry  finished second with a 9.6 War for Nico's efforts   in 1978 he he was acknowledged but by no means  celebrated he finished six in Cy Young voting   which as we'll discuss is a travesty and an MVP  voting he was barely considered finishing 17th   hey Patrick are you angry too yeah what's the  matter you can't see my forehead don't worry   we'll be delving into that ridiculous outcome here  in a second luckily Nico was at least invited to   the all-star game for the fourth time of his  career in 1978 an underrated part of nekro's   game was his ability to field his position well  he won five gold gloves throughout his 24-year   career with 1978 being one of the years he took  home the award he won back-to-back gold gloves   twice in his career as he took it home in 1979  as well as in his final two-year stretch with   the Braves before he signed as a free agent with  the Yankees at the crisp age of 45. wow I should   probably mention that he made the All-Star Game  this year and would play three more years before   he retired in an insane 48 years old to put that  into perspective Justin Verlander after putting   up an insane Cy Young season at age 39 which to  play nearly another decade before matching Nico's   ability to beat father time if there's anyone in  the game currently who can match negro I believe   it has to be Verlander but back to Nico's pitching  performance in 1978 the fact that he didn't win   the Cy Young or MVP this season is an absolute  travesty Phil negro for the year posted a 2.88   era 142 era plus three legally eating 22 complete  games four of which were shutouts started 42 games   and threw a league leading 334 and a third Innings  like we mentioned earlier Nico's War surpassing 10   is insane but it's mainly attributed to the fact  that he threw so many more Innings than everyone   else naturally Nico led the league and earned  runs aloud by sheer sample size negro's value   as a Workhorse was unmatched in 1978 as he started  more games than anybody else in the league out of   the four starters to finish higher than necro  in the voting 37 starts from Gaylord Perry were   the second most necro threw nearly 74 more Innings  than Perry he was the one who ultimately took home   the award and it's hard to see why a 21 better  than League average ERA plus is by no means Cy   Young worthy he won a league leading 21 games  which is what swayed the voters back in 1978 as   the win stat was still a relevant indicator at a  pitcher's success in modern day we know that it's   a team stat more than anything and while it's nice  to have 20 wins and all it shouldn't be a deciding   factor in whether or not someone wins the Cy Young  Award this year was the second of four straight   seasons in which negro led the league in losses  part of that can be chalked up to two mediocre   years but realistically the fact that he posted a  sub three and a half era in back-to-back Seasons   should not have equated to 38 losses combined in a  four-year stretch from 1977 to 1980 Nico was seven   games Below 500. in terms of War it isn't close  the top five War values are all under six and   negro posted a war north of 10. like we mentioned  earlier Nico had some tough luck this season he   lost a league leading 18 games and that definitely  hurt his Cy Young case but finishing Sixth and   voting now that's ridiculous even when comparing  his War value to that of position players in the   NL MVP voting he exceeds that of Dave Parker who  won the award by more than than three War Parker   was great this year leading the league in average  slugging in Ops but Nico should have definitely   been up there with him in the top three at the  very least nekro finished 17th in voting which is   baffling considering that a majority of players  that finished above negro posted a war half the   value of negro while we shouldn't live and die by  War I think it's safe to say based off of the many   outings nekro saved the bullpen and dominated the  competition that he should have been considered   for the MVP a lot of Voters are hesitant to elect  pitchers as the best player in the league but   negro made a case that is unlike your typical  pitcher let me know in the comments down below   your thoughts on Phil negro's 1978 season did he  deserve to win the scionger MVP make sure to leave   a like and consider subscribing if you enjoyed  and I'll see you guys in the next video later [Music]

Channel: Cam 23

Views: 14,280

Keywords: Phil Niekro, phil niekro, Phil Niekro Braves, Phil Niekro 1978, Phil Niekro ERA title, Cy Young, MVP, MLB, mlb, baseball, hall of fame, highlights, Niekro Braves, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Braves, niekro braves highlights, podcast, Phil Niekro knuckleball, best knuckleballer, the greatest knuckleballer, Phil Niekro strike out, Phil Niekro complete game, shutout, 1978 postseason, Niekro dominant, Baseball's Greatest Knuckleballer Was Overlooked, 1978, knuckleball, Braves, Cam 23, season

Id: I-A6sq9JPfY

Length: 11min 22sec (682 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 31 2023